Apria Healthcare Group Inc. of Lake Forest said Tuesday that its first-quarter profit fell 36% from a year earlier.
The cause was no surprise to the provider of home healthcare services: lower Medicare payments from the federal government.
Apria earned $16.1 million in the quarter. Revenue fell 10% to $368 million.
Analysts had expected Apria to make $16.5 million on revenue of $372.5 million in the quarter.
Apria said a mix of lower reimbursement and higher breathing drug costs were responsible for the majority of its income and revenue decline.
Chief Executive Lawrence Higby said Apria was “encouraged by signs of a return in overall organic revenue growth as it started to rebound in the first quarter versus the fourth quarter, but there’s still work to be done.”
