Lincare Reports Q1 Results

CLEARWATER, Fla.—Lincare reported first-quarter results
yesterday showing net revenues of $431.6 million, a 5.2 percent
increase over $410 million in the first quarter of 2010. The
increase included approximately 9.3 percent internal and
acquisition growth offset by a 4.1 percent negative impact from
$16.7 million of Medicare payment changes, the company said in a
release.

Net income for the quarter ended March 31 was $46.4 million, a
6.3 percent increase over $43.6 million for the same period in
2010. 

“As the year progresses, we look forward to building on
our market share gains and driving earnings growth through organic
expansion, selective acquisitions and other strategic
opportunities,” said Lincare CEO John P. Byrnes.

Lincare generated $81.3 million of cash from operating
activities during the first quarter of 2011 and invested $24
million in net capital expenditures and $20.6 million in business
acquisitions, the company said. As of March 31, total
long-term obligations, including current installments, were $509.2
million, and cash and investments were $173.6 million. In February,
the company acquired a specialty pharmacy business with $82 million
in annual revenue.

While an analyst from Jeffries called the earnings results
“lackluster,” another from Oppenheimer said Lincare
would be a “long-term winner in the oxygen space,”
according to an April 19 Associated Press
report. Oppenheimer’s Michael Wiederhorn added that with
rates likely to remain pressured, the move to diversify
“could set the company up for its next leg of
growth.”