Globe Life Inc.

Hello and welcome to Globe Life Inc. fourth quarter earnings release call. My name is Jim. I will be your coordinator for today's event. Please note this call is being recorded and all phone lines have been placed in a listen only mode to prevent any potential background noise. Also, if you would like to ask a question during today's question and answer session, simply press star and the digit one on your telephone keypad. Pressing star and one will place your line into a queue and we'll take your questions one at a time. I will now hand you over to your host, Stephen Mota, Senior Director of Investor Relations, to begin today's conference. Thank you, sir.

Thank you. Good morning, everyone. Joining the call today are Frank Sabota and Matt Darden, our co-chief executive officers, Tom Kombach, our chief financial officer, Mike Majors, our chief strategy officer, and Brian Mitchell, our general counsel. Some of our comments or answers to your questions may contain forward-looking statements They're provided for general guidance purposes only. Accordingly, please refer to our earnings release, 2024 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 will now turn the call over to Frank.

Thank you, Stephen, and good morning, everyone. In the fourth quarter, net income was $266 million. or $3.29 per share, compared to $255 million, or $3.01 per share, a year ago. Net operating income for the quarter was $274 million, or $3.39 per share, an increase of 8% over the $3.14 per share from a year ago. For the full year 2025, net operating income was $14.52, two cents above the midpoint of our previous guidance. On a GAAP-reported basis, return on equity through December 31st is 20.9%, and book value per share is $74.17. Excluding Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income, or AOCI, return on equity is 16%, and book value per share as of December 31st is $96.16, up 11% from a year ago. Before discussing the third quarter insurance operations, I would like to say a few words about the nature of our business. As I reflect on the results of the past year, I remain confident that our business model effectively positions us for future success. Globe Life helps provide financial security in the vastly underserved lower middle to middle income market that has largely been ignored by the financial services industry. We distribute basic protection products that are simple for agents and consumers to understand and are designed specifically to meet the needs of this market. Studies indicate that over 50% of Americans are underinsured. As such, we have a significant sustainable growth opportunity without having to compete for market share with other insurance companies. The history of growth at Globe Life is clearly demonstrated by both our recent and long-term results. and we are fully focused and confident in our ability to continue to grow in the future. We are honored to serve this market and grateful to have the opportunity to make tomorrow better for millions of working families. Now, in our insurance operations, total premium revenue in the fourth quarter grew 5% over the year-ago quarter. For the full year 2026, We expect total premium revenue to grow approximately 7% to 8%. Life premium revenue for the fourth quarter increased 3% from the year-ago quarter to $850 million. Life underwriting margin was $350 million, up 4% from a year ago, driven by premium growth and lower overall policy obligations. In 2026, we expect life premium revenue to grow between 4% and 4.5%, compared to 3% growth for the full year 2025. As a percent of premium, we anticipate life underwriting margin to be between 41.5% and 44.5%. In health insurance, Premium revenue grew 9% to $392 million, and health underwriting margin was also up 9% to $99 million. In 2026, we expect health premium revenue to grow in the range of 14% to 16%, compared to 9% growth for 2025. This is due to strong sales activity and premium rate increases on our Medicare supplement business. As a percent of premium, we anticipate health underwriting margin to be between 23% and 27%. The midpoint of the range is slightly below the underwriting margin percentage for 2025, primarily due to the strong premium growth expected in 2026 from our United American General Agency Division, which does have a lower underwriting margin percentage than our other distributions. Administrative expenses were $92 million for the quarter, an increase of approximately 1% over the fourth quarter of 2024. As a percent of premium, administrative expenses were 7.4%. In 2026, we expect administrative expenses to be approximately 7.3% of premium, the same as in 2025. I will now turn the call over to Matt for his comments on the fourth quarter marketing operations.