COLUMBUS, Ga., July 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Aflac Incorporated
(NYSE: AFL) announced today that it has issued yen-denominated (Samurai) bonds
totaling 40 billion yen, or approximately $360 million at the current exchange
rate. The bonds were issued in Japan under a previously announced shelf
registration filed with Japanese regulatory authorities. This issuance is the
first issuance from the December 2003 shelf registration.
Aflac anticipates that it will use the net proceeds of the yen-denominated
bonds for general corporate purposes, which shall include, but shall not be
limited to, repayment of debt.
For 50 years, Aflac products have given policyholders the opportunity to
direct cash where it is needed most when a life-interrupting medical event
causes financial challenges. Aflac is the number one provider of guaranteed-
renewable insurance in the United States and the number one insurance company
in terms of individual insurance policies in force in Japan. Aflac's insurance
products provide protection to more than 40 million people worldwide. In
January 2005, Aflac was included in Fortune magazine's list of the 100 Best
Companies to Work For in America for the seventh consecutive year. Aflac has
also been included in both Forbes magazine's Platinum 400 List of America's
Best Big Companies and in Fortune magazine's listing of America's Most Admired
Companies for five consecutive years. 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.
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 oral discussions 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 in our reports filed with the SEC, could
cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by the
forward-looking statements: legislative and regulatory developments;
assessments for insurance company insolvencies; competitive conditions in the
United States and Japan; new product development and customer response to new
products and new marketing initiatives; ability to attract and retain
qualified sales associates; ability to repatriate profits from Japan; changes
in U.S. and/or Japanese tax laws or accounting requirements; credit and other
risks associated with Aflac's investment activities; significant changes in
investment yield rates; fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates;
deviations in actual experience from pricing and reserving assumptions
including, but not limited to, morbidity, mortality, persistency, expenses,
and investment yields; level and outcome of litigation; downgrades in the
company's credit rating; changes in rating agency policies or practices;
subsidiary's ability to pay dividends to parent company; ineffectiveness of
hedging strategies used to minimize the exposure of our shareholders' equity
to foreign currency translation fluctuations; events resulting in catastrophic
loss of life or injury; and general economic conditions in the United States
and Japan.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20041202/CLTH019LOGO )
Analyst and investor contact - Kenneth S. Janke Jr., 800.235.2667 - option
3, FAX: 706.324.6330, or kjanke@aflac.com
Media contact - Laura Kane, 706.596.3493, FAX: 706.320.2288, or
lkane@aflac.com
This notice does not constitute an offer of any securities for sale. The
securities to be issued through the above-referenced shelf registration will
not be registered in the United States and will not be offered or sold to U.S.
investors absent compliance with the registration requirements of the
Securities Act of 1933 or an available exemption from the registration
requirements thereof.
SOURCE Aflac Incorporated
CONTACT:
Analyst and investors
Kenneth S. Janke Jr.
+1-800-235-2667, option 3
fax +1-706-324-6330
kjanke@aflac.com
Media
Laura Kane
+1-706-596-3493
fax +1-706-320-2288
lkane@aflac.com
both of Aflac Incorporated