COLUMBUS, Ga., June 23, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Aflac Incorporated
announced today that it has filed an amended shelf registration
with the Japanese authorities to issue debt securities up to
100 billion yen. The original shelf
registration was filed in November
2009.
As part of the filing, the company provided an update on its
investment portfolio derisking. During the second quarter of 2011,
Aflac will recognize a pretax loss of $165
million on the sale of investments associated with banks and
other financial institutions of Greece and Ireland, $72
million of which was previously disclosed. The company
estimates it will recognize $445
million of pretax impairment losses on investments in
Portugal banks.
Aflac Chairman and CEO Daniel P.
Amos commented: "As we communicated at our Financial
Analysts Briefing in May, we are executing on our plan to
proactively derisk our investment portfolio. We have made
substantial progress with this derisking program this quarter and
anticipate concluding this initiative by the end of 2011. The
strength of our capital base allows us to pursue our derisking
strategy to further strengthen our balance sheet and enhance
shareholder value for the long term."
ABOUT AFLAC
When a policyholder gets sick or hurt, Aflac pays cash benefits
fast. For more than 55 years, Aflac insurance policies have given
policyholders the opportunity to focus on recovery, not financial
stress. In the United States,
Aflac is the number one provider of guaranteed-renewable insurance.
In Japan, Aflac is the number one
life insurance company in terms of individual policies in force.
Aflac insurance products provide protection to more than 50 million
people worldwide. For five consecutive years, Aflac has been
recognized by Ethisphere magazine as one of the World's Most
Ethical Companies and by Forbes magazine as one of America's
Best-Managed Companies in the Insurance category. In 2011,
Fortune magazine recognized Aflac as one of the 100 Best
Companies to Work For in America for the thirteenth consecutive
year. Also, Fortune magazine included Aflac on its list of
Most Admired Companies for the tenth time in 2011. Aflac
Incorporated is a Fortune 500 company listed on the New York Stock
Exchange under the symbol AFL. To find out more about Aflac, visit
aflac.com or aflacenespanol.com.
FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION
The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides
a "safe harbor" to encourage companies to provide prospective
information, so long as those informational statements are
identified as forward-looking and are accompanied by meaningful
cautionary statements identifying important factors that could
cause actual results to differ materially from those included in
the forward-looking statements. We desire to take advantage of
these provisions. This document contains cautionary statements
identifying important factors that could cause actual results to
differ materially from those projected herein, and in any other
statements made by company officials in communications with the
financial community and contained in documents filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Forward-looking statements are not based on historical
information and relate to future operations, strategies, financial
results or other developments. Furthermore, forward-looking
information is subject to numerous assumptions, risks and
uncertainties. In particular, statements containing words such as
"expect," "anticipate," "believe," "goal," "objective," "may,"
"should," "estimate," "intends," "projects," "will," "assumes,"
"potential," "target" or similar words as well as specific
projections of future results, generally qualify as
forward-looking. Aflac undertakes no obligation to update such
forward-looking statements. We caution readers that the following
factors, in addition to other factors mentioned from time to time,
could cause actual results to differ materially from those
contemplated by the forward-looking statements: difficult
conditions in global capital markets and the economy generally;
governmental actions for the purpose of stabilizing the financial
markets; defaults and downgrades in certain securities in our
investment portfolio; impairment of financial institutions; credit
and other risks associated with Aflac's investment in perpetual
securities; differing judgments applied to investment valuations;
subjective determinations of amount of impairments taken on our
investments; realization of unrealized losses; limited availability
of acceptable yen-denominated investments; concentration of our
investments in any particular sector or issuer; concentration of
business in Japan; ongoing changes
in our industry; exposure to significant financial and capital
markets risk; fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates;
significant changes in investment yield rates; deviations in actual
experience from pricing and reserving assumptions; subsidiaries'
ability to pay dividends to the Parent Company; changes in law or
regulation by governmental authorities; ability to attract and
retain qualified sales associates and employees; ability to
continue to develop and implement improvements in information
technology systems; changes in U.S. and/or Japanese accounting
standards; decreases in our financial strength or debt ratings;
level and outcome of litigation; ability to effectively manage key
executive succession; catastrophic events including, but not
necessarily limited to, tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes,
tsunamis, and radiological disasters; and failure of internal
controls or corporate governance policies and procedures.
(Logo:
http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100423/CL92305LOGO )
Analyst and investor contact – Robin Y.
Wilkey, 706.596.3264 or 800.235.2667, FAX: 706.324.6330, or
rwilkey@aflac.com
Media contact – Laura Kane,
706.596.3493, FAX: 706.320.2288, or lkane@aflac.com
SOURCE Aflac Incorporated