Exhibit 99.1
NEWS
For Release Immediate
Contacts (News Media) Tony Zehnder, EVP, Corporate Communications
312.396.7086
(Investors) Scott Galovic, Senior Director, Investor Relations
317.817.3228
CONSECO DELAYS FILING OF FORM 10-K
Carmel, Ind., March 17, 2009 - Conseco, Inc. (NYSE:CNO) today announced that it
is has not completed its financial statements for the year ended December 31,
2008. Conseco said that it expects to complete its financial statements and to
file its Form 10-K on or before March 31, 2009. As announced on March 2, 2009,
the Company has been informed by its independent registered public accounting
firm that without additional information and analysis to satisfy the auditors'
concerns regarding the Company's liquidity and debt covenant margins (primarily
those that could be impacted by a significant amount of additional realized
losses in the Company's investment portfolio), their audit opinion will include
an explanatory paragraph regarding the Company's ability to continue as a going
concern. The Company is continuing to provide information and analysis to
address those concerns.
About Conseco
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 website at
www.conseco.com.
- more -
Conseco (2)
March 17, 2009
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements. Our statements, trend
analyses and other information contained in this press release 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 existing indebtedness
and the cost of doing so; (ii) our ability to continue to satisfy the financial
ratio and balance requirements and other covenants of our debt agreements; (iii)
our ability to generate sufficient liquidity to meet our debt service
obligations and other cash needs; (iv) our ability to obtain adequate and timely
rate increases on our supplemental health products including our long-term care
business; (v) the receipt of required regulatory approvals for dividend and
surplus debenture interest payments from our insurance subsidiaries; (vi)
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; (vii) changes in
our assumptions related to the cost of policies produced or the value of
policies in force at the effective date of our emergence from bankruptcy; (viii)
the recoverability of our deferred tax asset and the effect of potential tax
rate changes on its value; (ix) changes in accounting principles and the
interpretation thereof; (x) 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, (xi) performance and valuation of our investments, including the impact
of realized losses (including other-than-temporary impairment charges); (xii)
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; (xiii) the ultimate outcome of
lawsuits filed against us and other legal and regulatory proceedings to which we
are subject; (xiv) our ability to complete the remediation of the material
weakness in internal controls over our actuarial reporting process and to
maintain effective controls over financial reporting; (xv) our ability to
continue to recruit and retain productive agents and distribution partners and
customer response to new products, distribution channels and marketing
initiatives; (xvi) 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 ratings downgrades on our business; (xvii) the risk
factors or uncertainties listed from time to time in our filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission; (xviii) 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; and (xix) changes in
the Federal income tax laws and regulations which may affect or eliminate the
relative tax advantages of some of our products. 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.
- # # # # -