Here’s how Aflac, Global Payments and Synovus performed through first half of 2021
Aflac, Global Payments and Synovus all announced their Q2 2021 earnings in the past few weeks. How did the large, Columbus-affiliated corporations fare?
COVID-19 continues to affect each company’s operations. Global Payments announced new partnerships. Both Aflac and Synovus reported strong earnings. Here’s what you need to know about their finances.
Aflac
Aflac, a Fortune 500 company and insurer headquartered in Columbus, reported a Q2 profit of $1.1 billion ($1.62 per diluted share), up from net earnings of $805 million ($1.12 per diluted share) over the same period last year. The company attributes the increase to “higher net investment gains,” according to a news release.
Other key points include:
- Q2 total revenues were up slightly. Aflac reported Q2 revenue of $5.6 billion, up from $5.4 billion in Q2 2020.
Total investments and cash at the end of June 2021 were $146.7 billion, up from June 2020’s total of $142.2 billion.
In the second quarter, Aflac repurchased $500 million, or 9.2 million of its common shares. At the end of June 2021, the company had 76.5 million remaining shares authorized for repurchase.
For the first half of 2021, total revenues were $11.4 billion, up from $10.6 billion in the first half of 2020.
Profits also were up. Aflac reported net earnings of $2.4 billion ($3.49 per diluted share), an increase compared with $1.4 billion, ($1.89 per diluted share) for the first six months of 2020.
“While earnings are off to a very strong start for the first half of the year, it’s important to bear in mind that they are largely supported by a low benefit ratio associated with the pandemic conditions as well as a better-than-expected return on alternative investments,” Aflac Chairman and CEO Dan Amos said during the company’s earnings call July 29.
The company is continuing to maintain worksite and employee safety measures due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to its quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Aflac Japan had approximately 54% of its workforce working remotely as of the end of June. Return to the office measures are being evaluated, but the company said that “the remote configuration could remain for an indefinite period of time without materially impacting operations.”
In the United States, over 85% of employees were working remotely as of the end of June. A company-wide effort to return employees to the office began in July.
Several factors will affect the company’s phased return to the office through the rest of 2021 and into 2022, including “the availability of treatments and vaccines, the return schedule of school systems and the availability of child care, the number of COVID–19 cases and the COVID–19 replication rate in areas of the U.S. where the Company has significant operations,” according to Aflac’s quarterly filing.
Global Payments
Global Payments, a Fortune 500 company and financial technology corporation with dual headquarters in Atlanta and Columbus, reported a Q2 profit of $266.8 million, up from a reported net income of $39.4 million over the same period last year.
Other key points include:
- Total revenues were up. Global Payments reported total revenues of $2.1 billion, up from $1.7 billion in Q2 2020.
- Diluted earnings per share were $.89, up from $.12 over the same period last year.
- The company raised expectations for its 2021 performance. Global Payments expects adjusted net revenue to be in the range of $7.70 billion to $7.73 billion, reflecting growth of 14% to 15%. Adjusted earnings per share is estimated to be in a range of $8.07 to $8.20, representing growth of 26% to 28% over 2020.
For the first half of 2021, Global Payments reported total revenues of $4.1 billion, up from $3.6 billion over the same period in 2020.
Profits increased as well. The company reported net earnings of $465.2 million, up from $190 million during the first half of 2020.
The company announced several new purchases and partnerships during the quarter. Global Payments closed on its $925 million agreement to acquire Zego, a real estate management and payments software, from VistaEquity Partners.
In July, Global Payments reached an agreement with its partners at CaixaBank to acquire Bankia’s payments businesses in Spain. Global Payments agreed to pay $328 million for the businesses, Reuters reports.
Global Payments said its difficult to predict how the pandemic will affect business moving forward, citing uncertainties due to several factors, including “resurgence risk as new virus variants are identified and the direction or extent of current or future restrictive actions that may be imposed by governments or public health authorities,” according to its quarterly filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
While the pandemic may negatively affect revenues and earnings in 2021, the company said it expects a continued recovery through the year.
“Our business accelerated meaningfully in the second quarter of 2021, demonstrating significant ongoing momentum,” Jeff Sloan, Global Payments CEO, said in a statement. “Our differentiated strategies have enabled the compounded rates of growth we realized in the quarter and are now forecasting for the full year compared to 2019 levels.”
Synovus
Synovus, the Columbus-based banking and financial services provider, reported a profit of $186.2 million, up from a reported total net income of $93.2 million during Q2 2020.
Some other key points include:
- Total loans at the end of Q2 were slightly down. Loans were $38.2 billion, down from $39.9 billion in Q2 2020.
- Total deposits increased. In Q2 2021, Synovus reported roughly $47.2 billion in deposits, up from $44.2 billion in Q2 2020.
Adjusted diluted earnings per share were $1.20, compared to $0.23 in Q2 2020.
For the first half of 2021, Synovus reported a profit of $373.3 million, up from a reported total net income of $131.7 million during the first six months of 2020.
This story was originally published August 3, 2021 at 8:00 AM.