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May 03, 2016 at 09:13 AM
(Bloomberg) — CVS Health Corp.’s first-quarter profit beat analysts’ estimates, helped by higher prescription claims and the acquisition of a nursing-home pharmacy business.
Earnings were $1.18 a share, excluding one-time items, the company said in a statement Tuesday. That compared with the $1.16 average of predictions compiled by Bloomberg.
CVS (NYSE:CVS) has bulked up through acquisitions to expand its presence in more pharmacy businesses as drug reimbursement rates decline. Revenue from nursing-home pharmacy Omnicare, bought in August for $12.9 billion, was a main driver of sales growth. CVS also acquired the pharmacy locations inside Target Corp. stores for $1.9 billion last year.
The shares were up 2.3 percent to $103.76 at 11:22 a.m. in New York.
CVS’s net income declined 6.1 percent to $1.15 billion, or $1.04 a share, from $1.22 billion, or $1.07 a share, a year earlier, driven by an increase in interest expense from debt it took out to finance its acquisitions as well as acquisition related integration costs. Revenue at the Woonsocket, Rhode Island-based company rose 19 percent to $43.2 billion.
The company “had a reasonable start to the year, with strong revenue growth in pharmacy services,” said Ross Muken, an Evercore ISI analyst, in a note to clients. The increase was driven by “solid” growth in prescription claims, he said.
The company also said:
