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Jody Bilney Appointed Humana's Chief Consumer Officer

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By Business Wirevia The Motley Fool

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Jody Bilney Appointed Humana’s Chief Consumer Officer

LOUISVILLE, Ky.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Humana Inc. (NYS: HUM) , one of the nation’s leading health and well-being companies, announced today that Jody Bilney has been appointed Senior Vice President and Chief Consumer Officer, effective April 15. She will serve on the company’s Executive Team and report to President and Chief Executive Officer Bruce Broussard.

“We believe the new Chief Consumer Officer role will be vital to Humana’s future growth and success, and Jody is the ideal person to fill it,” Broussard said. “She is a strong, driven leader who brings a varied background of successful brand and business transformation to Humana.”

Bilney is currently Executive Vice President and Chief Brand Officer for Bloomin’ Brands, Inc., a Tampa-based upscale-casual restaurant company with Outback Steakhouse as its flagship chain. At Bloomin’ Brands, Bilney is responsible for strategy, brand, and business development across the enterprise. Previously, she led brand-transformation initiatives at Charles Schwab and Verizon.

“Jody’s broad brand and marketing experience with leading brands as they transitioned through periods of significant industry change will be a great complement to Humana’s Centers of Excellence in consumer experience and data analytics,” Broussard added.

“Humana pioneered the concept of putting the consumer at the center of health care, and I’m honored to be chosen to help take that powerful idea to the next level,” Bilney said. “I look forward to working for a company that is not only an industry leader, but is also dedicated to a dream – helping people achieve lifelong well-being.”

Bilney earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics, with a minor in Marketing, from Clemson University in Clemson, S.C.


About Humana

Humana Inc., headquartered in Louisville, Ky., is a leading health-care company that offers a wide range of insurance products and health and wellness services that incorporate an integrated approach to lifelong well-being. By leveraging the strengths of its core businesses, Humana believes it can better explore opportunities for existing and emerging adjacencies in health care that can further enhance wellness opportunities for the millions of people across the nation with whom the company has relationships.

More information regarding Humana is available to investors via the Investor Relations page of the company’s web …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

Pass on This Stock Until Debt Comes Down

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By Michael B. Lewis, The Motley Fool

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For those who bought Bloomin’ Brands last fall, it’s been a great run. The stock came out of the IPO gates at $11 only to rally up more than 60% in six months. Here at the Fool, we weren’t too excited about the restaurant holdings company based on its questionable reasons to go public and very high interest rates on near-term debt. The market didn’t seem to care, and the company is still flirting with its all-time highs. After the most recent earnings report, we see a company that is outperforming its competitors on sales figures, but still debt-laden. In the meantime, it is one of the more expensive restaurant stocks on the market. Let’s take a look at the numbers to see if Bloomin’ Brands should be on your menu or if it’s a heart attack waiting to happen.

Indebted
As is all too frequent with companies owned by leveraged buyout firm Bain Capital, Bloomin’ Brands was born into the public markets riddled with debt. The company had $248 million in 10% notes due in 2015 along with $1.1 billion in variable rate debt. In 2014, the company has $938 million in debt repayments alone. While it is no doubt a growing enterprise, Bloomin’ Brands has low margins that will seriously hurt free cash flow over the next few years.

All that said, the company had a solid fourth-quarter and full-year earnings report.

Earnings rich
Starting out with full year-results, the company earned $0.99 per share in diluted earnings versus $0.81 in 2011. Adjusted net income rose to $114 million, compared to $86.5 million the year before. Same-store sales, one of the most important metrics when looking at restaurants, were up 3.7%, driven by traffic growth of 2.7%. This compares to an industry average of 0.6% in same-store sales and traffic down 1.5%. Revenue grew 3.8% to more than $4 billion. That’s less than a 3% net income margin, but we’ll back to that later.

In management’s conference call, the tone was cautious. Citing the usual suspects of sequestration, tepid consumer confidence, and high gas prices, the company isn’t sure 2013 will be a banner year even though it seems to be an industry leader. Its focus will remain on value-oriented items. In my opinion, that is a wise strategy for the company if it intends to make a long-term recovery from its ridiculous debt load.

At Outback specifically, same-store sales were up 5.3% in the fourth quarter and 4.4% on a full-year basis. Though I’m not a frequenter of the steakhouse myself, I cannot deny that the restaurants seem to be full every time I see one. Fleming’s, an upscale steakhouse, performed exceptionally well, with 5.1% full-year same-store sales growth. I believe that Fleming’s is an encouraging brand for the company, as upscale restaurants should have some insulation from general economic trends.

The company opened 15 restaurants internationally, contributing to overall new store growth of 37 — two above estimates. Outback …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance