Amedisys, Inc. a home health nursing companies, today increased its revenue and earnings per share guidance for 2008.
Net service revenue is anticipated to be in the range of $1.10 billion to $1.15 billion, including the anticipated impact of our recent acquisitions, but excluding the impact of any future acquisitions should they occur.
Diluted earnings per share, including the anticipated effect of our recent acquisitions, but excluding the effect of any future acquisitions, if they occur, are expected to be in the range of $3.00 to $3.10 (after adding back for one-time expenses related to the acquisition of TLC Health Care Services, Inc. (“TLC”)), based on an estimated 26.9 million shares outstanding. Previous guidance released by the Company on April 30, 2008 anticipated 2008 revenue to be $1.05 billion to $1.10 billion and diluted earnings per share to be $2.70 to $2.80.
“Our integration of TLC is ahead of schedule, our revenue per episode is increasing and the roll out of our clinical programs is progressing very well. All of these factors have led us to increase 2008 revenue and earnings per share guidance,” stated William F. Borne, Chief Executive Officer of Amedisys, Inc.
Amedisys will release complete second quarter results on July 29, 2008 before the market opens. The Company will conduct a conference call to discuss its second quarter earnings and earnings guidance at 10:00 AM ET on the same day.
Amedisys, Inc. is headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Its common stock trades on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol “AMED”
Clyburn, Pelosi, Hoyer Tour Katrina, Rita Rebuild
House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn announced that he will be leading a congressional delegation which includes House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer to the GulfCoast region to mark the three-year anniversary of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The trip will run from July 19-22, with events and meetings scheduled in New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana as well as Waveland and Bay St. Louis Mississippi that focus on the issues of housing, health care, education, infrastructure, public safety and more. Clyburn is a leading voice in Congress on GulfCoast recovery issues and this is the third consecutive year he will be leading a trip to the region.
Disaster can strike at any time in any region of the country, and the entire nation can learn from the experience of the GulfCoast to prepare and respond. Our success in rebuilding the GulfCoast will be a test of how we handle future challenges. The innovative solutions for the GulfCoast may be models for the rest of the country in the areas of housing, health care, education, infrastructure, public safety and more. The prosperity of the region is the prosperity of America.
Democrats will deliver results on their visit—recently-appropriated $5.8 billion for levees and coastal restoration, $73 million for public housing in New Orleans, $3 million for the Road Home program, increased small business disaster loan assistance, and funding for higher education.
A year after the storm, in 2006, when the region was still reeling from the federal government’s incompetence and congressional inaction, House Democrats dispatched to the Gulf Coast to assess the devastation and determine the needs. That trip was an important first step in an unwavering partnership House Democrats have established with the region—it informed the legislation that eventually became law in the first seven months of a new Democratic majority in the 110th Congress.
Last year, House Democrats provided effective results during their visit to the region—a waiver of the local matching requirement under the Stafford Act, saving the region $1.9 billion and triggering work on 20,000 stalled construction projects; $6.4 billion in assistance for levees, coastal restoration, teacher recruitment, school maintenance, health care, housing, small business, and law enforcement; and oversight from more than 30 congressional hearings on recovery.
(Clyburn Press Release)
Louisiana Dancing
DanceMardigras is a national country and western and swing dance competition which will take place in New Orleans starting Thursday July 17 through July 20.It will feature competition, social, classes and more.Dancing has become a very important business and social opportunity in Louisiana.
NOAA-supported scientists from the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium and LouisianaStateUniversity are forecasting that the “dead zone” off the coast of Louisiana and Texas in the Gulf of Mexico this summer could be the largest on record.
The researchers are predicting the area could measure a record 8,800 square miles, or roughly the size of New Jersey. In 2007, the dead zone was 7,903 square miles. The largest dead zone on record was in 2002, when it measured 8,481 square miles. The official measurement of this year’s dead zone is slated to be released in late July. Researchers began taking regular measurements of the dead zone in 1985.
"The prediction of a large dead zone this summer is due to a combination of large influx of nitrogen and exceptionally high flows from the Mississippi and Atchafalaya rivers,” said LSU scientist R. Eugene Turner.
The dead zone is an area in the Gulf of Mexico where seasonal oxygen levels drop too low to support most life in bottom and near-bottom waters. This low oxygen, or hypoxic, area is primarily caused by high nutrient levels, which stimulates an overgrowth of algae that sinks and decomposes. The decomposition process in turn depletes dissolved oxygen in the water. The dead zone is of particular concern because it threatens valuable commercial and recreational Gulf fisheries.
Comparison by year of the measured Gulf of Mexico dead zone size in square miles.
Research indicates that the nearly tripling of nitrogen levels into the Gulf over the past 50 years from human activities has led to a dramatic increase in the size of the dead zone. Various models are useful in evaluating the influence of nitrogen loads and other factors on the size of the dead zone. The LSU model has a strong track record of accurately predicting the dead zone’s size.
“The strong link between nutrients and the dead zone indicates that excess nutrients from the Mississippi River watershed during the spring are the primary human-influenced factor behind the expansion of the dead zone,” said Rob Magnien, director of NOAA's Center for Sponsored Coastal Ocean Research. “This analysis will greatly inform the development of federal, state and local efforts to reduce the dead zone’s size.”
The forecast is based on a mathematical model developed by LSU through NOAA’s long-term research investment by CSCOR’s Gulf of Mexico Ecosystems and Hypoxia Assessment. The model incorporates U.S. Geological Survey data on the amount of nitrogen reaching the Gulf of Mexico in May. NOAA has been funding investigations into the dead zone since 1990.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, an agency of the U.S. Commerce Department, is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through the prediction and research of weather and climate-related events and information service delivery for transportation, and by providing environmental stewardship of our nation's coastal and marine resources. Through the emerging Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS), NOAA is working with its federal partners, more than 70 countries and the European Commission to develop a global monitoring network that is as integrated as the planet it observes, predicts and protects.
Post-Katrina Emergency Response
There will be a hearing today in Washington on the “Major Disaster Recovery: Assessing FEMA’s Performance Since Katrina”.According to Sen. Landrieu, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Deputy Administrator Harvey Johnson will be questioned concerning the effectiveness of the agency’s response to major natural disasters since Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
In addition, emergency managers who handled the state response to other significant disasters after Katrina will testify at this Senate Subcommittee on Disaster Recovery hearing. Those who responded to the May 2007 F-5 tornado in Greensburg, Kansas, the October 2007 California Wildfires and the February 2008 tornados in Arkansas and Tennessee will be present to discuss the federal response to these disasters.
The hearing will focus on FEMA’s performance on immediate response activities, initial recovery activities — including providing shelter, transitioning to disaster housing, and working with states to restore public buildings and infrastructure — and new recovery approaches.
JP Morgan
JPMorgan Chase reported Thursday that its second-quarter income dropped 53 percent.Accordingly, it’s credit card and home loan losses have spread to borrowers with the strongest credit histories which emphasize the growing problem in the financial markets.
