St. Louis, MO – Express Scripts Holding Company (Nasdaq: ESRX) announced 2013 first quarter net income from continuing operations attributable to Express Scripts shareholders of $374 million, or $0.45 per diluted share. Adjusted earnings per diluted share from continuing operations attributable to Express Scripts, were $0.99 for the first quarter.
“Our strong financial performance in the first quarter represents the work we do every day to make the use of prescription drugs safer and more affordable,” stated George Paz, chairman and chief executive officer. “As we mark the one-year anniversary of the Medco transaction, our Company today is better than the sum of its parts. We are well-positioned with an unmatched breadth and depth of product offerings, excellent customer service and innovative tools and solutions to manage the complex future of healthcare. Our primary focus continues to be improving health outcomes and lowering healthcare costs, which drives increased shareholder value.”
First Quarter 2013 Review
All key metrics compared to the first quarter of 2012 were affected by the inclusion of Medco results beginning in the second quarter of 2012. Gross profit margin and EBITDA per adjusted claim increases over last year are mainly attributed to improved operating performance, increased generic utilization and the realization of synergies.
- Adjusted claims from continuing operations of 390.0 million, up 102%
- Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations attributable to Express Scripts of $1.6 billion, up 143%
- Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations attributable to Express Scripts per adjusted claim of $4.08, up 20%
- Net cash flow provided by operating activities from continuing operations of $1.0 billion, up 81%
- Repurchased 5.1 million shares of common stock for $300.0 million, leaving 69.9 million shares available under the current share repurchase program
- Repaid $1.5 billion of long-term debt
2013 Guidance
The Company previously provided adjusted earnings per diluted share from continuing operations attributable to Express Scripts for 2013 in the range of $4.20 to $4.30, or growth of 12% to 15% over 2012. The Company expects improvements in gross profit over the balance of the year and now anticipates achieving adjusted earnings per diluted share from continuing operations attributable to Express Scripts for 2013 in the range of $4.23 to $4.33, or 13% to 16% growth over 2012. Adjusted earnings per share for 2013 exclude items as detailed in Table 6.
As noted in the Form 10K for 2012, as a result of the transition of United Healthcare claims and variability of other contractual revenue streams, quarterly EPS trends may vary from historical periods. More specifically, the Company expects earnings for a large client to be skewed to the second quarter due to the structure of the contract. The Company anticipates this pattern of earnings to continue for the foreseeable future. As a result, adjusted earnings per diluted share from continuing operations attributable to Express Scripts for the second quarter are expected to be between $1.08 and $1.12.
The complete earnings release is available here: Express Scripts First Quarter 2013 Results
Source: Express Scripts