WellPoint Reports 26% Drop in Quarterly Profit

WellPoint Health Networks Inc., a health-care operation recently spun off by Blue Cross of California, said its fourth-quarter profit fell 26% from a year earlier because of several one-time charges.

In the quarter ended Dec. 31, WellPoint’s net income fell to $32 million from $43.1 million a year earlier, while its revenue climbed 13%, to $571.5 million from $506 million.

The fourth-quarter charges included certain advertising costs, restructuring expenses and capital losses on securities stemming from a realignment of WellPoint’s investment portfolio after its separation from Blue Cross. Excluding those charges, WellPoint’s fourth-quarter profit would have risen 17%, to $39.8 million from $34 million.

WellPoint, like Blue Cross, is based in Woodland Hills. WellPoint sold a stake of nearly 20% to the public in late January for $28 a share.

For all of 1992, WellPoint’s net income rose 9%, to $174.8 million from $159.7 million, and its annual revenue climbed 18%, to $2.28 billion from $1.93 billion. WellPoint’s health-plan membership as of Dec. 31 totaled 2.16 million, up 12% from 1.93 million a year earlier.