CNO Financial Group, Inc. Seeks to Amend Senior Secured Credit Facility; Announces Preliminary Results for First Quarter; and Sets Earnings Release Date and Call

CARMEL, Ind., April 25, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:
CNO) today announced that it is seeking to amend its senior secured credit
facility to reduce the interest rate and make other changes to provide
additional operating flexibility. The facility currently has an interest rate of
LIBOR plus 600 basis points, with a LIBOR floor of 150 basis points (which
equals a current interest rate of 7.50%) and has an outstanding principal
balance of $325 million.

CNO also announced preliminary first quarter 2011 results. The Company said it
expects to report net income for 1Q11 of between $49 million and $54 million or
between 17 cents and 19 cents per diluted common share, compared to $33.9
million or 13 cents per share in 1Q10. Net operating income (1) for 1Q11 is
expected to be between $47 million and $52 million or between 16 cents and 18
cents per diluted common share, compared to $38.2 million or 14 cents per share
in 1Q10.

The Company also expects to report total new annualized premium (“NAP”),
excluding Private-Fee-For-Service (“PFFS”) and Prescription Drug Plan (“PDP”) of
approximately $86 million for the first quarter of 2011, compared to $87 million
in the first quarter of 2010. Sales for the first quarter of 2011 are slightly
lower primarily due to lower long-term care sales, which more than offset growth
in life sales.

CEO Jim Prieur said, “CNO is issuing preliminary results for the first quarter
in connection with the process of seeking to amend our senior secured credit
facility to capitalize on the current favorable capital markets.”

The preceding preliminary financial information and forward-looking statements
are based on management estimates and currently available information. There can
be no assurance that the amendment will be achieved.

CNO will report results for the first quarter of 2011 after the market closes on
Monday, May 2, 2011. The Company will host a conference call at 11 a.m. Eastern
Daylight Time on Tuesday, May 3, 2011.

The web cast of the conference call can be accessed through the investors
section of the company’s website as follows: http://investor.CNOinc.com.
Listeners should go to the website at least 15 minutes before the event to
register, download and install any necessary audio software.

About CNO

CNO is a holding company. Our insurance subsidiaries – principally Bankers Life
and Casualty Company, Colonial Penn Life Insurance Company and Washington
National Insurance Company – serve working American families and seniors by
helping them protect against financial adversity and provide for a more secure
retirement. For more information, visit CNO online at www.CNOinc.com.

_______________

(1) Management believes that an analysis of net income applicable to common
stock before: (i) loss on extinguishment of debt, net of income taxes; and (ii)
net realized investment gains or losses, net of related amortization and income
taxes (“net operating income,” a non-GAAP financial measure) is important to
evaluate the financial performance of the company, and is a key measure commonly
used in the life insurance industry. Management uses this measure to evaluate
performance because loss on extinguishment of debt and realized investment gains
or losses can be affected by events that are unrelated to the company’s
underlying fundamentals. Net income for 1Q11 is expected to include net realized
investment gains and loss on extinguishment of debt totaling $2 million. Net
income for 1Q10 included net realized investment losses and loss on
extinguishment of debt totaling $(4.3) million. Additional information
concerning this non-GAAP measure is included in our periodic filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission that are available in the “Investors – SEC
Filings” section of CNO’s website, www.CNOinc.com.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements.Our statements, trend
analyses and other information contained in this press release relative to
markets for CNO Financial’s products and trends in CNO Financial’s operations or
financial results, as well as other statements, contain forward-looking
statements within the meaning of thefederal securities laws and
thePrivateSecurities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements
typically are identified by the use of terms such as “anticipate,” “believe,”
“plan,” “estimate,” “expect,” “project,” “intend,” “may,” “will,” “would,”
“contemplate,” “possible,” “attempt,” “seek,” “should,” “could,” “goal,”
“target,” “on track,” “comfortable with,” “optimistic” and similar words,
although some forward-looking statements are expressed differently. You should
consider statements that contain these words carefully because they describe our
expectations, plans, strategies and goals and our beliefs concerning future
business conditions, our results of operations, financial position, and our
business outlook or they state other ”forward-looking” information based on
currently available information. Assumptions and other important factors that
could cause our actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in
our forward-looking statements include, among other things: (i) changes in or
sustained low interest rates causing a reduction in investment income, the
margins of our fixed annuity and life insurance businesses and demand for our
products; (ii) general economic, market and political conditions, including the
performance and fluctuations of the financial markets which may affect our
ability to raise capital or refinance existing indebtedness and the cost of
doing so; (iii) the ultimate outcome of lawsuits filed against us and other
legal and regulatory proceedings to which we are subject; (iv) our ability to
make changes to certain non-guaranteed elements of our life insurance products;
(v) our ability to obtain adequate and timely rate increases on our health
products, including our long-term care business; (vi) the receipt of any
required regulatory approvals for dividend and surplus debenture interest
payments from our insurance subsidiaries; (vii) mortality, morbidity, the
increased cost and usage of health care services, persistency, the adequacy of
our previous reserve estimates and other factors which may affect the
profitability of our insurance products; (viii) changes in our assumptions
related to deferred acquisition costs or the present value of future profits;
(ix) the recoverability of our deferred tax assets and the effect of potential
ownership changes and tax rate changes on their value; (x) our assumption that
the positions we take on our tax return filings, including our position that our
7.0% convertible senior debentures due 2016 will not be treated as stock for
purposes of Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, and
will not trigger an ownership change, will not be successfully challenged by the
Internal Revenue Service; (xi) changes in accounting principles and the
interpretation thereof; (xii) our ability to continue to satisfy the financial
ratio and balance requirements and other covenants of our debt agreements;
(xiii) our ability to achieve anticipated expense reductions and levels of
operational efficiencies including improvements in claims adjudication and
continued automation and rationalization of operating systems, (xiv) performance
and valuation of our investments, including the impact of realized losses
(including other-than-temporary impairment charges); (xv) our ability to
identify products and markets in which we can compete effectively against
competitors with greater market share, higher ratings, greater financial
resources and stronger brand recognition; (xvi) our ability to generate
sufficient liquidity to meet our debt service obligations and other cash needs;
(xvii) our ability to maintain effective controls overfinancial reporting;
(xviii) our ability to continue to recruit and retain productive agents and
distribution partners and customer response to new products, distribution
channels and marketing initiatives; (xix) our ability to achieve eventual
upgrades of the financial strength ratings of CNO Financial and our insurance
company subsidiaries as well as the impact of our ratings on our business, our
ability to access capital and the cost of capital; (xx) the risk factors or
uncertainties listed from time to time in our filings with the Securities and
Exchange Commission; (xxi) regulatory changes or actions, including those
relating to regulation of the financial affairs of our insurance companies, such
as the payment of dividends and surplus debenture interest to us, regulation of
financial services affecting (among other things) bank sales and underwriting of
insurance products, regulation of the sale, underwriting and pricing of
products, and health care regulation affecting health insurance products; and
(xxii) changes in the Federal income tax laws and regulations which may affect
or eliminate the relative tax advantages of some of our products. Other factors
and assumptions not identified above are also relevant to the forward-looking
statements, and if they prove incorrect, could also cause actual results to
differ materially from those projected.All forward-looking statements are
expressly qualified in their entirety by the foregoing cautionary statements.
Our forward-looking statements speak only as of the date made. We assume no
obligation to update or to publicly announce the results of any revisions to any
of the forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, future events or
developments, changes in assumptions or changes in other factors affecting the
forward-looking statements.

SOURCE CNO Financial Group, Inc.

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