Voya Financial’s 2014 Year-End Net Income More Than Triples
February 11, 2015 by Jeff Jeffrey, Washington Bureau manager: jeff.jeffrey@ambest.com
NEW YORK – Voya Financial Inc. reported a fourth-quarter net income of $1.4 billion, marking a 154.6% increase over the $548 million the company earned during the same period of 2013.
For all of 2014, Voya reported a net income of $2.3 billion. The company’s 2014 earnings were up 282.7% over its 2013 earnings.
Voya attributed the sharp increase to the release of a tax valuation allowance that added $1.6 billion to the company’s earnings during the fourth quarter.
“As a result of sustained positive financial results and various actions taken to strengthen the company’s financial condition, Voya Financial concluded that a substantial portion of its deferred tax assets is likely to be realized, and has released the corresponding portion of the valuation allowance,” the company said in a statement.
For the full-year 2014, Voya said the gain associated with the tax valuation allowance release was $1.85 billion.
Voya reported fourth-quarter after-tax operating earnings of $245 million, an increase over the $198 million the company reported for the same period in 2013. The company attributed most of the increase to strong results in its retirement, annuities, individual life and employee benefits lines of business.
However, the company saw a decrease in its full-year after-tax operating earnings, going from $825 million in 2013 to $800 million in 2014.
Voya Financial was formed out of ING Group’s sale of its majority stake in ING U.S. Inc. Following the sale of shares of common stock, ING U.S. started operating under the name Voya Financial in April (Best’s News Service, Aug. 6, 2014).
Subsidiaries of Voya Financial Inc. rated by A.M. Best currently have Best’s Financial Strength Ratings of A (Excellent).
On the afternoon of Feb. 11, shares of Voya Financial Inc. (NYSE: VOYA) were trading at $42.85, up 3.10% from the previous closing price.
