UnitedHealth Group discretely sold stakes in some of its business units to private equity firms near the end of 2024 in an effort to extend its long-running profit streak despite mounting internal cost pressures, Bloomberg reported July 15.
According to the report, the deals included selling a controlling stake in Epic Hearing Healthcare to Warburg Pincus and finalized a deal involving a senior fitness program with KKR & Co. In total, UnitedHealth saw an additional $3.3 billion in profit stemming from asset sales by the end of the fourth quarter.
“We certainly stand by our practices yet these matters are hardly news, since we disclosed the information through quarterly earnings calls, SEC filings and more dating back to January,” a spokesperson for the company told Bloomberg.
Some of the sales gave UnitedHealth a short-term earnings boost while allowing it to retain buyback options, which could ultimately require the company to repurchase the assets at a higher price in the future, according to the report.
In May, UnitedHealth suspended its 2025 earnings outlook as “care activity continued to accelerate while also broadening to more types of benefit offerings than seen in the first quarter,” especially in the Medicare Advantage business and at Optum Health. The company then replaced CEO Andrew Witty with its board chair and former CEO, Stephen Hemsley.
UnitedHealth’s total revenues in 2024 were $400.3 billion, up 7.7% year over year. In the fourth quarter, revenues were $100.8 billion. Total net earnings in 2024 were $14.4 billion, down 35.6% from $22.4 billion year over year. In the fourth quarter, net earnings were $5.5 billion. Net margin for 2024 was 3.6%.
