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Protective Life (FRA:PV7) Free Cash Flow : €493 Mil (TTM As of Sep. 2014)


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What is Protective Life Free Cash Flow?

Protective Life's total free cash flow for the months ended in Sep. 2014 was €140 Mil. Its total free cash flow for the trailing twelve months (TTM) ended in Sep. 2014 was €493 Mil.

Protective Life's Free Cash Flow per Share for the months ended in Sep. 2014 was €1.72. Its free cash flow per share for the trailing twelve months (TTM) ended in Sep. 2014 was €6.06.

During the past 12 months, the average Free Cash Flow per Share Growth Rate of Protective Life was -10.20% per year. During the past 3 years, the average Free Cash Flow per Share Growth Rate was -8.90% per year. During the past 5 years, the average Free Cash Flow per Share Growth Rate was -15.60% per year. During the past 10 years, the average Free Cash Flow per Share Growth Rate was 0.70% per year. Please click Growth Rate Calculation Example (GuruFocus) to see how GuruFocus calculates Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT)'s revenue growth rate. You can apply the same method to get the Free Cash Flow Growth Rate using Free Cash Flow per Share data.

During the past 13 years, Protective Life's highest 3-Year average Free Cash Flow per Share Growth Rate was 42.40% per year. The lowest was -31.50% per year. And the median was -2.10% per year.


Protective Life Free Cash Flow Historical Data

The historical data trend for Protective Life's Free Cash Flow can be seen below:

* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD.
* For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.

* Premium members only.

Protective Life Free Cash Flow Chart

Protective Life Annual Data
Trend Dec04 Dec05 Dec06 Dec07 Dec08 Dec09 Dec10 Dec11 Dec12 Dec13
Free Cash Flow
Get a 7-Day Free Trial Premium Member Only Premium Member Only 800.82 528.84 458.24 522.61 356.19

Protective Life Quarterly Data
Dec09 Mar10 Jun10 Sep10 Dec10 Mar11 Jun11 Sep11 Dec11 Mar12 Jun12 Sep12 Dec12 Mar13 Jun13 Sep13 Dec13 Mar14 Jun14 Sep14
Free Cash Flow Get a 7-Day Free Trial Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only 182.98 45.85 47.47 259.85 140.12

Protective Life Free Cash Flow Calculation

Free Cash Flow is considered one of the most important parameters to measure a company's earnings power by value investors because it is not subject to estimates of Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization (DDA). However, when we look at the Free Cash Flow, we should look from a long term perspective, because any year's Free Cash Flow can be drastically affected by the spending on Property, Plant, & Equipment (PPE) of the business in that year. Over the long term, Free Cash Flow should give pretty good picture on the real earnings power of the company.

Protective Life's Free Cash Flow for the fiscal year that ended in Dec. 2013 is calculated as

Free Cash Flow (A: Dec. 2013 )=Cash Flow from Operations+Capital Expenditure
=364.671+-8.483
=356

Protective Life's Free Cash Flow for the quarter that ended in Sep. 2014 is calculated as

Free Cash Flow (Q: Sep. 2014 )=Cash Flow from Operations+Capital Expenditure
=141.242+-1.123
=140

Free Cash Flow for the trailing twelve months (TTM) ended in Sep. 2014 adds up the quarterly data reported by the company within the most recent 12 months, which was €493 Mil.

* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD.
* For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.


Protective Life  (FRA:PV7) Free Cash Flow Explanation

Free Cash Flow is very close to Warren Buffett's definition of Owner's Earnings, except that in Warren Buffett's Owner's Earnings, the spending for Property, Plant, and Equipment is only for maintenance (replacement), while in the Free Cash Flow calculation, the cost of new Property, Plant, and Equipment due to business expansion is also deducted. There, Free Cash Flow is more conservative than Owner's Earnings.

In Don Yacktman's calculation of forward rate of return, he uses Free Cash Flow for the calculation. Yacktman explained the forward rate of return concept in detail in his interview with GuruFocus. Yacktman defines forward rate of return as the normalized free cash flow yield plus real growth plus inflation.

This is what Yacktman said in his March 2012 interview - when the S&P 500 was at 1400:

If the business is stable, this calculation is fairly straightforward. For instance, on the S&P 500 we would normalize earnings. We would then calculate what percentage of those earnings are not reinvested in the underlying businesses and are therefore free. Historically, for the S&P 500, this has been just under 50% of earnings. Currently, we expect the S&P to earn about 70 on a normalized basis, a number which is far below reported earnings due to our adjusting for record high profit margins. $70 X ½ / 1400 gives you a normalized free cash flow yield of approximately 2.5%.

The historical real growth rate of the S&P 500 (companies) is about 1.5%. Assuming an inflation rate of 2.5%, the forward rate of return on an investment in the S&P 500 is about 6.5% today (2.5% free cash flow yield plus 1.5% real growth plus 2.5% inflation).

For the growth part of the Forward Rate of Return calculation, GuruFocus uses the 5-year average growth rate of EBITDA per share as the growth rate, and the growth rate is always capped at 20%. For the Free Cash Flow we use per share data averaged over seven years. The reason we use seven years is because research shows that seven years is the length of the typical business cycle.

Therefore, as of Sep14, Protective Life's Forward Rate of Return (Yacktman) % is

Forward Rate of Return (Yacktman) % (Sep14)=Normalized Free Cash Flow/Price+5-Year EBITDA Growth Rate
=6.10380952/47.265+0.1405
=26.96 %

* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD.
* For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.


Be Aware

Free Cash Flow within a report period can be affected by management's decisions of capital spending. Therefore, it is important to look at long term when it comes to Free Cash Flow.


Protective Life Free Cash Flow Related Terms

Thank you for viewing the detailed overview of Protective Life's Free Cash Flow provided by GuruFocus.com. Please click on the following links to see related term pages.


Protective Life (FRA:PV7) Business Description

Traded in Other Exchanges
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Address
Protective Life Corporation, a Delaware corporation was founded in 1907. A holding company, whose subsidiaries provide financial services through the production, distribution, and administration of insurance and investment products. The Company's operating segments are Life Marketing, Acquisitions, Annuities, Stable Value Products, Asset Protection and Corporate and Other. The Life Marketing segment markets universal life, variable universal life, bank-owned life insurance and level premium term insurance products on a national basis mainly through networks of independent insurance agents and brokers, stockbrokers, and independent marketing organizations. The Acquisitions segment focuses on acquiring, converting, and servicing policies acquired from other companies. The segment's main focus is on life insurance policies and annuity products that were sold to individuals. The Annuities segment markets fixed and variable annuity products. These products are mainly sold through broker-dealers, but are also sold through financial institutions and independent agents and brokers. The Stable Value Products segment sells fixed and floating rate funding agreements directly to the trustees of municipal bond proceeds, money market funds, bank trust departments, and other institutional investors. The segment also issues funding agreements to the Federal Home Loan Bank and markets guaranteed investment contracts (GICs) to 401(k) and other qualified retirement savings plans. The Asset Protection segment mainly markets extended service contracts and credit life and disability insurance to protect consumers' investments in automobiles, watercraft, and recreational vehicles. In addition, the segment markets a guaranteed asset protection product and an inventory protection product. The Company has an additional segment referred to as Corporate and Other which earnings from several non-strategic or runoff lines of business, various investment-related transactions, the operations of several small subsidiaries, and the repurchase of non-recourse funding obligations. The Company encounters competition in all lines of business from other insurance companies, many of which have greater financial resources and higher ratings than the Company and which might have a greater market share, offer products, services or features, assume a greater level of risk, have lower operating or financing costs, or have different profitability expectations than the Company. The Company also faces competition from other providers of financial services. The Company and its subsidiaries are subject to government regulation in each of the states in which it conducts business.

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