COLUMBUS, Ga. (AP) — COLUMBUS, Ga. (AP) — Aflac Inc. (AFL) on Wednesday reported a third-quarter loss of $93 million, after reporting a profit in the same period a year earlier.

The Columbus, Georgia-based company said it had a loss of 17 cents per share. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring costs, were $2.16 per share.

The results exceeded Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of seven analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $1.70 per share.

The insurer posted revenue of $2.95 billion in the period, which fell short of Street forecasts. Four analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $4.65 billion.

Aflac shares have climbed 33% since the beginning of the year, while the S&P's 500 index has risen 22%. In the final minutes of trading on Wednesday, shares hit $109.91, an increase of 42% in the last 12 months.

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This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on AFL at https://www.zacks.com/ap/AFL