The Cigna Group

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by for the SECTA Group's first quarter 2025 results review. At this time, all callers are in a listen-only mode. We will conduct a question and answer session later in the conference and review procedures on how to enter queue to ask questions at that time. If you should require assistance during the call, please press star zero on your touch-tone phone. As a reminder, ladies and gentlemen, this conference, including the Q&A session, is being recorded. We'll begin by turning the conference over to Ralph Jacoby. Please go ahead.

Great, thank you, operator. Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining today's call. I'm Ralph Jacoby, Senior Vice President of Investor Relations. With me on the line this morning are David Cordani, the Cigna Group's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brian Evenko, President and Chief Operating Officer, and Anne Dennison, Chief Financial Officer. In our remarks today, David, Brian, and Anne will cover a number of topics, including our first quarter 2025 financial results and our financial outlook for 2025. Following their prepared remarks, David, Brian, and Ann will be available for Q&A. As noted in our earnings release, when describing our financial results, we use certain financial measures, including adjusted income from operations and adjusted revenues, which are not determined in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States, otherwise known as GAAP. A reconciliation of these measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures shareholders net income and total revenues respectively is contained in today's earnings release, which is posted in the investor relations section of thecignagroup.com. We use the term labeled adjusted income from operations and adjusted earnings per share on the same basis as our principle measures of financial performance. In our remarks today, we will be making some forward looking statements, including statements regarding our outlook for 2025 and future performance. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from our current expectations. A description of these risks and uncertainties is contained in the cautionary note to today's earnings release and in our most recent reports filed with the SEC. Regarding our results in the first quarter, we recorded net after-tax special item charges of $229 million or 84 cents per share. This included an after-tax special item charge of $163 million or 63 cents per share related to a strategic optimization program to further leverage the company's ongoing operational efficiency initiatives. Additional details of the special items are included in our quarterly financial supplement. Additionally, please note that when we make perspective comments regarding financial performance, including our full year 2025 outlook, we will do so on a basis that includes the potential impact of future share repurchases and anticipated 2025 dividends. With that, I'll turn the call over to David.

Thanks, Ralph. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining today's call. We begin 2025 with momentum, and I'm pleased to report that in the first quarter, the Cigna Group had strong results while we continue to focus on delivering on our commitments to build a better, more sustainable healthcare model. Joining me on the call is Brian Ivanko, our President and Chief Operating Officer, and I also want to welcome Anne Dennison, our Chief Financial Officer. As you likely saw, Brian and Ann were named to these new roles in March. With their announcement, we'll be following an evolved format for our call this morning. I'll share some brief comments and focus on our performance and how we're leading to address evolving stakeholder needs. Then Brian will discuss key business drivers fueling our growth, and Ann will provide more detail on our financial results. And then we'll take your questions. To start today, I'm pleased to report that we delivered $65.5 billion in total revenue, and we grew adjusted earnings per share to $6.74 this quarter. And we were also raising our full-year EPS guidance estimate to at least $29.60. We delivered this performance in a dynamic environment with forces of change going beyond tariffs and trade to significant geopolitical and evolving social impacts. At the Cigna Group, our market-leading capabilities and flexible model has fueled our consistent track record of delivering differentiated value innovating, and smartly expanding our addressable markets, driving sustained long-term growth even in the most disrupted environments. Whether measured over the last three, five, or ten years, we've performed and delivered on our EPS growth algorithm. We've been able to deliver these competitively attractive results through a relentless approach to position our company to lead through the forces of change in healthcare. We all know the healthcare system is on an unsustainable trajectory. Annual US healthcare expenditures now exceed $4.5 trillion, and society's growing needs are overwhelming the current system, which remains primarily oriented to providing interventions after someone becomes ill. All of these dynamics, particularly when matched against the current economic, geopolitical, and social environment, are driving strong demand for strategic partners that could help individuals, employers, governmental agencies, health plans, and integrated healthcare delivery systems achieve both their short and long-term goals. The engines for converting these opportunities into differentiated results are our two growth platforms, Evernorth, our health services portfolio, and Cigna Healthcare, our integrated benefits portfolio. Together, the businesses across these platforms are leveraging the breadth of our core strengths and the power of our capabilities to create and capture more value than any one business could achieve alone. Importantly, we also continue to shape our portfolio with strategic acquisitions, partnerships, and divestitures. The recently completed sale of our Medicare business, HCSC, the last quarter is the most recent example that demonstrates our disciplined execution of our capital management strategy. Now, while we've long been on a path to evolve and drive continuous improvement, as we stepped into 2025, the forces of change in healthcare further strengthened our urgency and resolve. and in part fueled customer-focused commitments and series of actions we announced earlier this year to address some of the most pressing challenges in healthcare in five key areas. First, access. We are addressing the challenges customers and patients face in getting care and making our processes simpler and faster. Second is support, helping our customers and patients with enhanced resources to navigate the healthcare system with greater ease and peace of mind. Next is value. working to further lower costs for our customers and patients. Fourth is accountability. Our promise to stand behind our commitments, specifically by tying our leadership compensation to improving customer and patient satisfaction. And finally, transparency. We will publicly share our progress and improvements to serve our customers and patients as we go forward. These actions represent yet another significant commitment from the Cigna Group to build a better future, and I'm pleased we are already making good progress. Now to wrap up my comments. Against a backdrop that is dynamic and challenging, we are well positioned for a strong 2025. Our first quarter results underscore the momentum we're building and our resilience as we continue to drive growth and invest for the long term. And we are confident in our ability to sustainably deliver 10 to 14% compounded EPS growth over the strategic horizon, along with providing an attractive dividend. With that, I'll turn the call over to Brian.