|
Jul 30, 2010
The Boca Raton-based health care staffing company
Cross Country Healthcare Regains Profitability
Cross Country Healthcare regained profitability in the fourth quarter, despite a sharp drop in revenue.
The Boca Raton-based health care staffing company reported net income of $398,000, or a penny a share, on revenue of $124.1 million in the fourth quarter. In the same period last year, Cross Country lost $161.3 million, or $5.24 a share, on revenue of $205.9 million.
The company got back into the black mostly by slashing expenses. It also repaid $70.6 million in debt during the year, including $7 million in the fourth quarter.
President and CEO Joseph A. Boshart said nurse staffing, which is Cross Country’s largest business segment, grew in the fourth quarter compared to the third quarter because of increased demand from health care institutions. Its market share in the travel nurse staffing industry grew relative to its competitors, he noted.
The company’s $65.4 million in nurse staffing revenue during the fourth quarter was down 47 percent from a year ago, but up 2 percent from the third quarter.
However, Cross Country’s physician staffing and clinical trials services business segments were down from both comparable periods. The company blamed that on physicians delaying retirement in response to the recession – hence postponing the need for fill-in doctors – and a reduction in clinical trial spending by life science companies.
For the full year, Cross Country earned $6.7 million, or 22 cents a share, on revenue of $578.2 million. In 2008, it lost $142.9 million, or $4.64 a share, on revenue of $734.2 million.
|
