Aflac Incorporated Board Of Directors Increases Shares Authorized For Repurchase

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Nov 13, 2013, 04:40 ET

COLUMBUS, Ga., Nov. 13, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Aflac Incorporated's board of directors today authorized the purchase of up to 40 million shares of its common stock. This authorization is in addition to the 16.9 million shares that remained under a previous authorization as of September 30, 2013, bringing the total number of shares available for purchase to approximately 56.9 million. The company anticipates that the repurchase of shares will be conducted from time to time in open market or negotiated transactions, depending on market conditions.

Commenting on the news, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Daniel P. Amos stated: "I am very pleased with today's action by our board of directors. Whether we're talking about our operations in Japan or the U.S., as an insurance company, our primary mission is to fulfill our obligations to our policyholders. At the same time, we are listening to our shareholders and understand the importance of capital deployment. In our third quarter of 2013 earnings release, we announced a 5.7% increase in the quarterly cash dividend, which is payable on December 2, 2013, to shareholders of record at the close of trading on November 20, 2013. We also increased our expected share repurchase to $800 million of our shares in 2013 and $800 million to $1 billion of our shares in 2014."

ABOUT AFLAC

When a policyholder gets sick or hurt, Aflac pays cash benefits fast. For nearly six decades, Aflac insurance policies have given policyholders the opportunity to focus on recovery, not financial stress. In the United States, Aflac is the number one provider of guaranteed-renewable insurance. In Japan, Aflac is the number one life insurance company in terms of individual policies in force. Aflac individual and group insurance products provide protection to more than 50 million people worldwide. For seven consecutive years, Aflac has been recognized by Ethisphere magazine as one of the World's Most Ethical Companies. In 2013, FORTUNE magazine recognized Aflac as one of the 100 Best Companies to Work For in America for the 15th consecutive year. Also, in 2013, FORTUNE magazine included Aflac on its list of Most Admired Companies for the 12th time, ranking the company number one in the life and health insurance category. Aflac Incorporated is a Fortune 500 company listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol AFL. To find out more about Aflac, visit aflac.com or espanol.aflac.com.

FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION

The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a "safe harbor" to encourage companies to provide prospective information, so long as those informational statements are identified as forward-looking and are accompanied by meaningful cautionary statements identifying important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those included in the forward-looking statements. We desire to take advantage of these provisions. This document contains cautionary statements identifying important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected herein, and in any other statements made by company officials in communications with the financial community and contained in documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Forward-looking statements are not based on historical information and relate to future operations, strategies, financial results or other developments. Furthermore, forward-looking information is subject to numerous assumptions, risks and uncertainties. In particular, statements containing words such as "expect," "anticipate," "believe," "goal," "objective," "may," "should," "estimate," "intends," "projects," "will," "assumes," "potential," "target" or similar words as well as specific projections of future results, generally qualify as forward-looking. Aflac undertakes no obligation to update such forward-looking statements. We caution readers that the following factors, in addition to other factors mentioned from time to time, could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements: difficult conditions in global capital markets and the economy; governmental actions for the purpose of stabilizing the financial markets; defaults and credit downgrades of securities in our investment portfolio; impairment of financial institutions; credit and other risks associated with Aflac's investment in perpetual securities; differing judgments applied to investment valuations; significant valuation judgments in determination of amount of impairments taken on our investments; limited availability of acceptable yen-denominated investments; concentration of our investments in any particular single-issuer or sector; concentration of business in Japan; increased derivative activities; ongoing changes in our industry; exposure to significant financial and capital markets risk; fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; significant changes in investment yield rates; deviations in actual experience from pricing and reserving assumptions; subsidiaries' ability to pay dividends to Aflac Incorporated; changes in law or regulation by governmental authorities; ability to attract and retain qualified sales associates and employees; decreases in our financial strength or debt ratings; ability to continue to develop and implement improvements in information technology systems; interruption in telecommunications, information technology, and other operational systems, or a failure to maintain the security, confidentiality or privacy of sensitive data residing on such systems; changes in U.S. and/or Japanese accounting standards; failure to comply with restrictions on patient privacy and information security; level and outcome of litigation; ability to effectively manage key executive succession; catastrophic events including, but not necessarily limited to, epidemics, pandemics, tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis, acts of terrorism and damage incidental to such events; and failure of internal controls or corporate governance policies and procedures.

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Analyst and investor contact – Robin Y. Wilkey, 706.596.3264 or 800.235.2667, FAX: 706.324.6330 or [email protected]
Media contact – Laura Kane, 706.596.3493, FAX: 706.320.2288, or [email protected]

SOURCE Aflac Incorporated