COLUMBIA, S.C. (May 18, 2007) – In his comments to stockholders at the company’s annual meeting today, Thomas R. Watjen, president and CEO of Unum Group, said the company has made significant progress over the past four years and is now building sustainable momentum.
“Unum is a very different company today,” he said. “We have made tremendous progress since 2003, and as a result we are stronger operationally and financially than we’ve been in many years. While there is clearly more work to do, we’re now in a position where we’re building sustainable momentum.”
Watjen pointed to the company’s financial strength and shareholder returns over the past four years as evidence that the actions taken since 2003 are producing results. He added that Unum has made the transition from a company needing to raise capital to one that is producing excess capital – it anticipates having more than $900 million of cash at the holding company by the end of 2007. Since Watjen became CEO in early 2003, Unum’s market value has increased from approximately $2.4 billion to more than $9.7 billion today, and shareholder returns have outpaced the S&P 500 by a two-to-one margin.
Watjen said the company will begin to focus more on top-line growth going forward while maintaining its pricing discipline and emphasis on profitability. In the United States, Unum’s plans include expanding its offering to small and mid-sized employers and increasing its focus on leveraging opportunities in the voluntary benefits arena. At its Colonial Life and Accident subsidiary, plans for top-line growth include increasing the number of agents it recruits, while also expanding its product and service offering. In the U.K., Unum intends to further expand the group income protection market, which is largely under-penetrated compared to the U.S. marketplace.
“Looking ahead, our areas of focus include consistently executing our business plan, better leveraging our leadership positions, successfully satisfying the requirements of our regulatory settlements and maintaining our position as employer of choice in our industry,” he added. “I’m confident that if we execute our plans well, we will continue to generate value for all of our stakeholders.”
Also at today’s meeting, shareholders of Unum Group approved the company’s long-term incentive plan and elected three directors to terms expiring in 2010. They are: E. Michael Caulfield, former president of Mercer Human Resource Consulting; Ronald E. Goldsberry, an independent contractor to Deloitte Consulting and former chief executive officer of OnStation; and Michael J. Passarella, retired audit partner of PriceWaterhouseCoopers LLP. All are currently serving on the board.
The HR industry´s premier online community and resource for Human Resource professionals: HR, human resources, HR community, human resources community, HR best practices, best practices in human resources, online communities for HR, HR articles, HR news, human resources articles, human resources news, HR events, leadership, performance management, staffing and recruitment, benefits, compensation, staffing, recruitment, workforce acquisition, human capital management, HR management, human resources management, HR metrics and measurement, organizational development, executive coaching, HR law, employment law, labor relations, hiring employees, HR outsourcing, human resources outsourcing, training and development
hr.com.
human resources management resources for hr professionals. |
HR menus
|
HR events
|
HR Sitemap