Lincare Holdings Inc. Announces First Quarter 2008 Financi...( CLEARWATER Fla. April 21 /- Linca...),Health

CLEARWATER, Fla., April 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Lincare Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: LNCR), a leading provider of oxygen and other respiratory therapy services delivered to patients in the home, today announced financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2008.

For the quarter ended March 31, 2008, revenues were $415.4 million, a 10% increase over revenues of $378.5 million for the first quarter of 2007. The Company estimates that the increase in net revenues was comprised of approximately 11% internal growth, partially offset by Medicare price reductions of approximately 1% taking effect in 2008. Net income for the quarter ended March 31, 2008, was $60.7 million compared to net income of $53.9 million for the first quarter of 2007. Diluted earnings per share were $0.79 for the quarter ended March 31, 2008, compared with $0.59 diluted earnings per share for the comparable prior year period.

Lincare added 10 new operating centers in the first quarter derived from internal development. The total number of Lincare locations expanded to 1,029 at the end of the first quarter.

John P. Byrnes, Lincare's Chief Executive Officer, said, "We are pleased with Lincare's operating and financial performance in the first quarter of 2008. We continue to gain market share in our core respiratory business while controlling costs and reinvesting capital to sustain growth."

Lincare generated $126.4 million of cash from operating activities during the quarter and invested $29.5 million in net capital expenditures. The Company repurchased 1,009,250 shares of its common stock during the quarter for $35.2 million and common shares outstanding at March 31, 2008 were 73,206,626 shares. As of March 31, 2008, total debt outstandi
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