Globe Life Inc. (GL) CEO Gary Coleman on Q2 2022 Results - Earnings Call Transcript

Globe Life Inc. (NYSE:GL) Q2 2022 Earnings Conference Call July 28, 2022 12:00 PM ET

Company Participants

Mike Majors - Executive Vice President, Administration and Investor Relations

Gary Coleman - Co-Chairman and CEO

Larry Hutchison - Co-Chairman and CEO

Frank Svoboda - Senior Executive VP and CFO

Conference Call Participants

Jimmy Bhullar - JPMorgan

Erik Bass - Autonomous Research

Andrew Kligerman - Credit Suisse

John Barnidge - Piper Sandler

Thomas Gallagher - Evercore ISI

Ryan Krueger - KBW

Operator

Good day, everyone, and welcome to the Globe Life Inc. Second Quarter 2022 Earnings Release Conference Call. Today's conference is being recorded.

At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Mike Majors, Executive Vice President, Administration and Investor Relations. Please go ahead, sir.

Mike Majors

Thank you. Good morning, everyone. Joining the call today are Gary Coleman and Larry Hutchison, our Co-Chief Executive Officers; Frank Svoboda, our Chief Financial Officer; and Brian Mitchell, our General Counsel. Some of our comments or answers to your questions may contain forward-looking statements that are provided for general guidance purposes only. Accordingly, please refer to our earnings release, 2021 10-K and any subsequent Forms 10-Q on file with the SEC. Some of our comments may also contain non-GAAP measures. Please see our earnings release and website for discussion of these terms and reconciliations to GAAP measures.

I'll now turn the call over to Gary Coleman.

Gary Coleman

Thank you, Mike, and good morning, everyone. In the second quarter, net income was $177 million or $1.79 per share compared to $200 million or $1.92 per share a year ago. Net operating income for the quarter was $205 million or $2.07 per share, an increase of 12% from a year ago.

On a GAAP reported basis, return on equity was 9.8% and book value per share is $54.18. Excluding unrealized losses on fixed maturities, return on equity was 12.6% and book value per share is $60.71, up 9% from a year ago. In life insurance operations, premium revenue increased 4% from the year ago quarter to $760 million. Life underwriting margin was $198 million, up 11% from a year ago. The increase in margin is due primarily to increased premium and improved claims experience. For the year, we expect life premium revenue to grow around 5%, and at the midpoint of our guidance, we expect underwriting margin to grow around 23%, due primarily to an expected decline in COVID claims for the full year.