WellPoint Posts Higher 4th-Quarter Profit

WellPoint Health Networks Inc., a Woodland Hills-based managed-care company, said its fourth-quarter profit from operations rose 25% as it increased its membership and cut costs. Profit before charges and a gain rose to $58.6 million, or 83 cents a diluted share, compared with net income of $47 million, or 71 cents, a year earlier. The 83-cent figure beat the 80-cents-a-share average estimate of analysts. WellPoint joins Humana Inc. and United HealthCare Corp. in reporting strong earnings growth at a time when competitors such as Oakland-based Kaiser Permanente and Oxford Health Plans Inc. are struggling to overcome losses racked up as medical costs rose faster than expected. WellPoint said membership grew 48% to 6.64 million last year, up from 4.48 million a year earlier. Wellpoint shares rose 44 cents to close at $57.31 on the New York Stock Exchange.