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.”