Humana profit rises on growth in retail, employer units

Humana profit rises on growth in retail, employer units
(Reuters) - Health insurer Humana Inc said on Wednesday that its second-quarter profit rose 18 percent, helped by growth in both its direct-to-customer division and the unit that markets plans to employers. The company, which specializes in private Medicare plans for the elderly, reported net income of $420 million, or $2.63 per share, up from $356 million, or $2.16 per share, a year earlier. Excluding 12 cents a share in costs of exiting a Puerto Rico Medicaid business for the poor, analysts were expecting earnings of $2.47, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. ...