Exhibit 99.1
NEWS
For Release Immediate
Contacts (News Media) Tony Zehnder, Corporate Communications 312.396.7086
(Investors) Scott Galovic, Investor Relations 317.817.3228
Conseco provides update to investors
Carmel, Ind. September 18, 2008 - During an investor conference call today that
had been scheduled since September 8, CEO Jim Prieur of Conseco, Inc. (NYSE:
CNO) said that:
o Business fundamentals at the company have not changed since its
announcement of second quarter earnings.
o The company continues to have adequate liquidity in its insurance
companies and at the holding company, with strong capital levels at
the insurance companies and a positive cash flow at the holding
company.
o The company is in compliance with all covenants of its bank facility
and expects to continue to be in compliance in the future.
o The company sees no need to raise additional external capital.
During the call today, Conseco also indicated that it expects earnings before
interest and taxes (EBIT) for the third quarter of 2008 to be in the range of
$75 million to $90 million. (1)
Conseco, Inc.'s insurance companies help protect working American families and
seniors from financial adversity: Medicare supplement, long-term care, cancer,
heart/stroke and accident policies protect people against major unplanned
expenses; annuities and life insurance products help people plan for their
financial futures. For more information, visit Conseco's web site at
www.conseco.com.
(1) Management believes that an analysis of earnings or loss before net realized
investment gains (losses), corporate interest and taxes ("EBIT," a non-GAAP
financial measure) provides a clearer comparison of the operating results of the
company quarter-over-quarter because it excludes: (i) corporate interest
expense; and (ii) net realized investment gains (losses) that are unrelated to
the company's underlying fundamentals.
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Conseco (2)
September 18, 2008
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements. Our statements, trend
analyses and other information contained in these materials relative to markets
for Conseco's products and trends in Conseco's operations or financial results,
as well as other statements, contain forward-looking statements within the
meaning of the federal securities laws and the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements typically are identified by the
use of terms such as "anticipate," "believe," "plan," "estimate," "expect,"
"project," "intend," "may," "will," "would," "contemplate," "possible,"
"attempt," "seek," "should," "could," "goal," "target," "on track," "comfortable
with," "optimistic" and similar words, although some forward-looking statements
are expressed differently. You should consider statements that contain these
words carefully because they describe our expectations, plans, strategies and
goals and our beliefs concerning future business conditions, our results of
operations, financial position, and our business outlook or they state other
"forward-looking" information based on currently available information.
Assumptions and other important factors that could cause our actual results to
differ materially from those anticipated in our forward-looking statements
include, among other things: (i) general economic, market and political
conditions, including the performance and fluctuations of the financial markets
which may affect our ability to raise capital or refinance our existing
indebtedness; (ii) our ability to obtain adequate and timely rate increases on
our supplemental health products including our long-term care business; (iii)
mortality, morbidity, the increased cost and usage of health care services,
persistency, the adequacy of our previous reserve estimates and other factors
which may affect the profitability of our insurance products; (iv) changes in
our assumptions related to the cost of policies produced or the value of
policies inforce at the Effective Date; (v) the recoverability of our deferred
tax asset and the effect of potential tax rate changes on its value; (vi)
changes in accounting principles and the interpretation thereof; (vii) our
ability to achieve anticipated expense reductions and levels of operational
efficiencies including improvements in claims adjudication and continued
automation and rationalization of operating systems; (viii) performance and
valuation of our investments, including the impact of realized losses (including
other-than-temporary impairment charges); (ix) our ability to identify products
and markets in which we can compete effectively against competitors with greater
market share, higher ratings, greater financial resources and stronger brand
recognition; (x) the ultimate outcome of lawsuits filed against us and other
legal and regulatory proceedings to which we are subject; (xi) our ability to
remediate the material weakness in internal controls over the actuarial
reporting process that we identified at year-end 2006 and to maintain effective
controls over financial reporting; (xii) our ability to continue to recruit and
retain productive agents and distribution partners and customer response to new
products, distribution channels and marketing initiatives; (xiii) our ability to
achieve eventual upgrades of the financial strength ratings of Conseco and our
insurance company subsidiaries as well as the potential impact of rating
downgrades on our business; (xiv) the risk factors or uncertainties listed from
time to time in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission; (xv)
our ability to continue to satisfy the financial ratio and balance requirements
and other covenants of our debt agreements; (xvi) regulatory changes or actions,
including those relating to regulation of the financial affairs of our insurance
companies, such as the payment of dividends to us, regulation of financial
services affecting (among other things) bank sales and underwriting of insurance
products, regulation of the sale, underwriting and pricing of products, and
health care regulation affecting health insurance products; (xvii) changes in
the Federal income tax laws and regulations which may affect or eliminate the
relative tax advantages of some of our products; and (xviii) the receipt of
regulatory approval and consummation of the plan to transfer Conseco Senior
Health Insurance Company to an independent trust. Other factors and assumptions
not identified above are also relevant to the forward-looking statements, and if
they prove incorrect, could also cause actual results to differ materially from
those projected. All written or oral forward-looking statements attributable to
us are expressly qualified in their entirety by the foregoing cautionary
statement. Our forward-looking statements speak only as of the date made. We
assume no obligation to update or to publicly announce the results of any
revisions to any of the forward-looking statements to reflect actual results,
future events or developments, changes in assumptions or changes in other
factors affecting the forward-looking statements.
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