CIGNA Shareholders Approve Increase In Authorized Common Shares To 600 Million

CIGNA Corporation shareholders have approved a proposal to complete a three-for-one split of its common shares and increase authorized common shares to 600 million. CIGNA currently has approximately 72 million shares issued and outstanding. The Company expects the stock to begin trading on a split-adjusted basis on May 18, 1998.

The record date for the stock split is May 4, 1998. The additional shares will be issued to shareholders on May 15, 1998, in "book-entry" form, without stock certificates.

In addition, the CIGNA Board of Directors declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.2867 per common share on a post-split basis ($0.86, pre-split). The dividend is payable July 10, 1998, to shareholders of record on June 12, 1998.

The Board also authorized the purchase of up to an additional $750 million of its common stock, depending on prevailing market conditions and alternative uses of capital. This action increases the total available share repurchase authority to $955 million. Since CIGNA began its repurchase program in 1996, the Company has repurchased 5.3 million shares for $795 million.