Globe Life Inc.

Hello and welcome to the Q3 2022 Globe Life Inc earnings call. My name is Jess and I'll be your coordinator for today's event. For the duration of the call, your lines will be on listen only. However, there will be the opportunity to ask questions. This can be done by pressing star one on your telephone keypad to register your question at any time. If at any point you require assistance, please press star zero and you'll be connected to an operator. I will now hand over to your host, Mike Majors, to begin today's call. Thank you.

Thank you. Good morning, everyone. Joining the call today are Gary Coleman and Larry Hutchinson, our co-chief executive officers, Frank Svoboda, our chief financial officer, Matt Darden, our chief strategy officer, and Brian Mitchell, our general counsel. Some of our comments or answers to your questions may contain forward-looking statements that are provided for general guidance purposes only. Accordingly, please refer to our earnings release, 2021 10-K, and any subsequent forms 10-Q on file with the SEC. Some of our comments may also contain non-GAAP measures. Please see our earnings release and website for discussion of these terms and reconciliations to GAAP measures. I'll now turn the call over to Gary Coleman.

Thank you, Mike, and good morning, everyone. Before we get into the third quarter results, I want to note our separate announcement yesterday that Frank Svoboda and Matt Darden have been appointed as co-CEOs effective January 1, 2023. Mary and I will continue to serve as co-chairmen of the board. We are very pleased to hand the reins over to Frank and Matt. You may recall that in April of this year, we appointed them to the newly created titles of Senior Executive Vice President to reflect their significant contributions and leadership. As noted in the announcement, Frank and Matt bring a vast range of experience and skill sets to the company. Yesterday's announcement is the conclusion of a long-planned succession strategy that is the result of a thoughtful and deliberate process undertaken by the board. We believe this outcome best positions Globe Life for the next chapter of growth and value creation, while ensuring that our executive leadership structure continues in a way that allows us to best serve all our stakeholders, including our employees, agents, policyholders, as well as our shareholders. Barry and I, along with the board, look forward to this transition. And with that, I'd like to begin the discussion of the third quarter results. In the third quarter, net income was $187 million, or $1.90 per share, compared to $189 million, or $1.84 per share, a year ago. Net operating income for the quarter was $211 million, or $2.15 per share, an increase of 21% from a year ago. On a GAAP-reported basis, return on equity was 11.2%, and book value per share is $44.56. Excluding unrealized losses on fixed maturities, return on equity was 13.1%, and book value per share is $62.01, up 9% from a year ago. In the life insurance operations, premium revenue increased 4%, from the year ago quarter to $755 million. Life underwriting margin was $208 million, up 28% from the year ago. The increase in margin is due to improved claims experience. For the year, we expect life premium revenue to grow around 4.5%, and at the midpoint of our guidance, we expect underwriting margin to be up around 23%, due primarily to a decline in COVID and excess mortality for the full year. In health insurance, premium revenue grew 7% to $319 million, and health underwriting margin was up 4% to $80 million. For the year, we expect health premium to go around 6%, and at the midpoint of our guidance, we expect underwriting margin to be up around 5%. Administrative expenses were $75 million for the quarter, up 10% from a year ago. As a percentage of premium, administrative expenses were 7% compared to 6.6% a year ago. For the full year, we expect administrative expenses to be up around 11% and be around 6.9% of premium, due primarily to higher IT and information security costs, employee costs, and the addition of the Globe Life Benefits Division. I will now turn the call over to Larry for his comments on the third quarter marketing operations.