Press Releases

CARMEL, Ind., March 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Conseco, Inc. today announced that it is seeking to amend its existing $911.8 million senior secured credit agreement. Banc of America Securities LLC will act as lead arranger in connection with the amendment. The amendment, which does not seek any additional borrowing or any changes in the current repayment schedule, is expected to provide for, among other things, amendments and/or waivers of covenants, including financial covenants, and an increase in the interest rate payable by the Company. The proposed amendment will require consent from a majority of the lenders. There can be no assurance that such amendments or waivers will be obtained or that the terms that can be obtained would be satisfactory to the Company.

About Conseco

Conseco, Inc.'s insurance companies help protect working American families and seniors from financial adversity: Medicare supplement, long-term care, cancer, heart/stroke and accident policies protect people against major unplanned expenses; annuities and life insurance products help people plan for their financial futures. For more information, visit Conseco's website at www.conseco.com.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements. Our statements, trend analyses and other information contained in this press release relative to markets for Conseco's products and trends in Conseco's operations or financial results, as well as other statements, contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements typically are identified by the use of terms such as "anticipate," "believe," "plan," "estimate," "expect," "project," "intend," "may," "will," "would," "contemplate," "possible," "attempt," "seek," "should," "could," "goal," "target," "on track," "comfortable with," "optimistic" and similar words, although some forward-looking statements are expressed differently. You should consider statements that contain these words carefully because they describe our expectations, plans, strategies and goals and our beliefs concerning future business conditions, our results of operations, financial position, and our business outlook or they state other ''forward-looking'' information based on currently available information. Assumptions and other important factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in our forward-looking statements include, among other things: (i) general economic, market and political conditions, including the performance and fluctuations of the financial markets which may affect our ability to raise capital or refinance existing indebtedness and the cost of doing so; (ii) our ability to continue to satisfy the financial ratio and balance requirements and other covenants of our debt agreements; (iii) our ability to generate sufficient liquidity to meet our debt service obligations and other cash needs; (iv) our ability to obtain adequate and timely rate increases on our supplemental health products including our long-term care business; (v) the receipt of required regulatory approvals for dividend and surplus debenture interest payments from our insurance subsidiaries; (vi) mortality, morbidity, the increased cost and usage of health care services, persistency, the adequacy of our previous reserve estimates and other factors which may affect the profitability of our insurance products; (vii) changes in our assumptions related to the cost of policies produced or the value of policies in force at the effective date of our emergence from bankruptcy; (viii) the recoverability of our deferred tax asset and the effect of potential tax rate changes on its value; (ix) changes in accounting principles and the interpretation thereof; (x) our ability to achieve anticipated expense reductions and levels of operational efficiencies including improvements in claims adjudication and continued automation and rationalization of operating systems, (xi) performance and valuation of our investments, including the impact of realized losses (including other-than-temporary impairment charges); (xii) our ability to identify products and markets in which we can compete effectively against competitors with greater market share, higher ratings, greater financial resources and stronger brand recognition; (xiii) the ultimate outcome of lawsuits filed against us and other legal and regulatory proceedings to which we are subject; (xiv) our ability to complete the remediation of the material weakness in internal controls over our actuarial reporting process and to maintain effective controls over financial reporting; (xv) our ability to continue to recruit and retain productive agents and distribution partners and customer response to new products, distribution channels and marketing initiatives; (xvi) our ability to achieve eventual upgrades of the financial strength ratings of Conseco and our insurance company subsidiaries as well as the potential impact of ratings downgrades on our business; (xvii) the risk factors or uncertainties listed from time to time in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission; (xviii) regulatory changes or actions, including those relating to regulation of the financial affairs of our insurance companies, such as the payment of dividends to us, regulation of financial services affecting (among other things) bank sales and underwriting of insurance products, regulation of the sale, underwriting and pricing of products, and health care regulation affecting health insurance products; and (xix) changes in the Federal income tax laws and regulations which may affect or eliminate the relative tax advantages of some of our products. Other factors and assumptions not identified above are also relevant to the forward-looking statements, and if they prove incorrect, could also cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. All written or oral forward-looking statements attributable to us are expressly qualified in their entirety by the foregoing cautionary statement. Our forward-looking statements speak only as of the date made. We assume no obligation to update or to publicly announce the results of any revisions to any of the forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, future events or developments, changes in assumptions or changes in other factors affecting the forward-looking statements.

SOURCE: Conseco, Inc.

Web site: http://www.conseco.com/