Posted on Tue, Nov. 3, 2009
NEW YORK - Medco Health Solutions Inc., the largest U.S. pharmacy benefits manager, said Tuesday that its profit rose 13.5 percent as the company gained new clients and benefited from price inflation of brand-name drugs.
The company earned $335.6 million, or 69 cents per share, up from $295.7 million, or 58 cents per share, a year prior. Excluding charges, the company said, it earned 75 cents per share. Revenue surged 18 percent to $14.79 billion from $12.56 billion.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected 72 cents per share in profit from $14.68 billion in revenue.
Medco, headquartered in Franklin Lakes, N.J., and with operations in Willingboro, slightly raised its 2009 profit outlook to $2.80 to $2.82 per share from a range of $2.76 to $2.81 per share. The new forecast is mainly above Wall Street forecasts of $2.80 per share.
Looking ahead, it set 2010 profit guidance of $3.28 to $3.38 per share, while analysts expect $3.28 per share.
"Clients are drawn to the value driven by Medco's innovations, and they have expressed their strong interest and confidence in Medco by awarding us over $20 billion of new business since 2008," chairman and CEO David B. Snow said in a statement.
He said the company expects to retain 99 percent of its clients in 2010.
Meanwhile, the generic dispensing rate rose 3.3 percent, with gains in both mail-order and retail rates. Total adjusted prescription volume rose 14.1 percent, though mail-order volume fell 2.3 percent mainly on a decrease in brand-name drugs.
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