Medco Health 4Q profit up 11 percent

[February 22, 2011]  NEW YORK (AP) -- Medco Health Solutions Inc., the country's largest pharmacy benefits manager, said Tuesday its fourth-quarter profit rose 11 percent, reflecting record volumes in mail-order prescriptions.

The Franklin Lakes, N.J., company also reaffirmed its 2011 guidance.

For the October-December quarter, the company reported net income of $378.5 million, or 88 cents per share, compared with $341.5 million, or 70 cents per share, a year earlier. Excluding amortization costs, Medco earned 94 cents per share in the latest period.

Revenue rose 11 percent to $16.93 billion from $15.25 billion a year ago.

Analysts surveyed by FactSet expected earnings per share of 94 cents and revenue of $16.62 billion.

Mail-order prescriptions rose 7.3 percent with generic volumes up 15.1 percent. The company said new business also drove up retail volumes by 7.5 percent to a record.

Specialty pharmacy revenue rose 21.3 percent to a record of nearly $3 billion.

During the fourth quarter, Medco repurchased 15.8 million shares for $963.3 million, or an average per-share cost of $61.05.

For the full year, the company earned $1.43 billion, or $3.16 per share, up from $1.28 billion, or $2.61 a share, a year ago. Annual revenue rose to $65.97 billion from $59.8 billion in 2009.

Medco said it still expects to earn $3.53 to $3.66 per share, or a range of $3.99 to $4.12 per share excluding amortization.

[Associated Press]

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