Reuters: Global Markets: Express Scripts third quarter profit rises, shares dip

Reuters: Global Markets Reuters.com is your source for breaking news, business, financial and investing news, including personal finance and stocks. Reuters is the leading global provider of news, financial information and technology solutions to the world's media, financial institutions, businesses and individuals. // via fulltextrssfeed.com

Geek Squad from Best Buy Get instant online support. We can fix computers, cameras, car technology and more. Talk to us today. From our sponsors

Express Scripts third quarter profit rises, shares dip Oct 24th 2013, 21:55 Share this Email Print Reprints Thu Oct 24, 2013 5:55pm EDT (Reuters) - Pharmacy benefit manager Express Scripts Holding Co (ESRX.O) on Thursday reported higher net earnings for the third quarter, but said claims volume declined 9 percent. The company's shares, which closed at $63.74, were down 2.4 percent at $62.20 in after-hours trade on the Nasdaq exchange. "They had a pretty good quarter ... results were in line," said Morningstar analyst Vishnu Lekra. He said some investors may have been disappointed with the drop in claims, but noted said the decline was anticipated due to new competition. For the third quarter, Express Scripts reported net earnings of $438.1 million, or 52 cents a share, compared with $395.9 million, or 47 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding one-time items, the company earned $1.07 a share, just below analysts' average projections of $1.08 a share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Revenue totaled $25.9 billion, just ahead of the average estimate of $25 billion. The company said cashflow for the full year would range between $4 billion and $4.5 billion, down from a previous estimate of $4.5 billion to $5 billion. Citing its year-to-date performance and reduced tax rate, Express Scripts raised the lower end of its full-year profit outlook. It now expects adjusted 2013 earnings of $4.30 to $4.34 per share, up from its prior outlook of $4.26 to $4.34 per share. Express Scripts and other pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, administer prescription drug benefits for employers and health plans and also run large mail order pharmacies. (Reporting by Deena Beasley; Editing by Eric Walsh) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

You are receiving this email because you subscribed to this feed at blogtrottr.com. If you no longer wish to receive these emails, you can unsubscribe from this feed, or manage all your subscriptions