Cerner’s 4th-quarter profit falls as higher costs offset slight rise in revenue

Cerner 4Q profit falls on higher expenses

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Health care information technology company Cerner Corp. said Tuesday its fourth-quarter profit fell as higher expenses offset a slight rise in revenue.

The company, which provides electronic access to medical records, said net income in the three-month period ended Jan. 2 totaled $60.5 million, or 71 cents per share. That’s down from $71.5 million, or 86 cents per share, a year earlier. Adjusted earnings per share excluding one-time costs were 75 cents.

Revenue rose slightly to $466.3 million from $465.7 million. Operating expenses, however, rose 6 percent to $293.9 million from $276.7 million.

The results still beat the average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, who expected profit of 72 cents per share on revenue of $451.2 million.

Shares of Cerner rose $1.74, or 2.2 percent, to $80.70 in after-hours trading, having closed earlier up $1.61 at $78.96 during the regular trading session.

For the full year, the company earned $193.5 million, or $2.39 per share, up from profit of $188.7 million, or $2.34 per share, in 2008. Revenue fell slightly to $1.67 billion from $1.68 billion.

Cerner said it is well-positioned to take advantage of increased spending and focus on health care IT this year. President Barack Obama’s recently released budget plan proposes spending more than $100 million to expand technologies such as electronic medical records as a way to tamp down overall health care costs.

Looking ahead, Cerner forecast first-quarter adjusted profit between 57 cents and 62 cents per share on revenue of $420 million to $435 million. For the full 2010 fiscal year, the company expects profit between $2.80 and $2.90 per share on revenue of $1.8 billion to $1.88 billion.

Analysts are looking for first-quarter profit of 62 cents per share on revenue of $431.8 million and full-year profit of $2.84 per share on revenue of about $1.85 billion.