Voya Financial Q4 Earnings Beat, Revenues & Premiums Rise Y/Y

Core Viewpoint - Voya Financial, Inc. reported strong fourth-quarter 2024 adjusted operating earnings of $1.50 per share, significantly exceeding expectations, despite a year-over-year decline of 23.8% due to higher loss ratios and lower spread-based assets [1][11]. Financial Performance - Adjusted operating revenues reached $1.9 billion, marking a 12.5% increase year over year [2]. - Net investment income slightly decreased by 0.2% year over year to $521 million [2]. - Fee income rose by 11% year over year to $543 million, while premiums increased by 17.4% to $790 million [2]. - Total benefits and expenses were $1.8 billion, up 10% from the previous year [2]. Segmental Update - Wealth Solutions reported adjusted operating earnings of $210 million, a 42.8% increase year over year, driven by growth in fee-based revenues and alternative investment income [4]. - Health Solutions experienced a pre-tax adjusted operating loss of $102 million, a decline from earnings of $44 million in the previous year, primarily due to higher loss ratios [5]. - Investment Management posted pre-tax adjusted operating earnings of $66 million, up 46.7% year over year, supported by higher fee-based revenues and net inflows of $3.4 billion [6]. - Corporate segment incurred pre-tax adjusted operating losses of $27 million, an improvement from a loss of $34 million in the prior year [7]. Financial Update - Voya Financial ended the quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $1.4 billion, a 49.3% increase year over year [8]. - Total investments amounted to $35 billion, down 4.3% year over year [8]. - Long-term debt was $2.1 billion, a slight increase of 0.2% from the end of 2023 [8]. - Book value per share (excluding AOCI) increased by 5.4% year over year to $61.31 [9]. Capital Deployment - The company returned $800 million of excess capital to shareholders in 2024, including $140 million in share repurchases and $43 million in dividends [10]. - As of December 31, 2024, Voya had a remaining share repurchase authorization of $761 million [10]. Full-Year Highlights - For the full year 2024, adjusted operating earnings per share were $7.79, a decrease of 3% year over year, but still beating the consensus estimate by 17.3% [11]. - Adjusted operating revenues for the full year increased by 9.7% to $7.5 billion [11].