Aveanna Healthcare battled a difficult first quarter with rising labor costs related to the COVID-19 pandemic hurting its bottom line.
Late Wednesday, the diversified Atlanta-based healthcare company reported adjusted per-share earnings of $0.04 on profits of $25.3 million in the first three months of this year compared to $0.08 a share on $5.8 million in profits during the same period a year ago.
In a press release, Aveanna CEO Tony Strange assured investors the company is turning a corner on the pandemic.
“Although we continue to face near-term caregiver supply constraints like many other healthcare providers, we have moved past the near-term impact from omicron and importantly the demand for our services has never been higher and we remain optimistic about Aveanna’s long-term prospects,” Strange said.
The company saw its revenue increase 8% to 450.5 million in the quarter, primarily due to a $35 million increase in revenue from its home health and hospice unit. However, revenue from Aveanna’s private-duty services unit was flat during the quarter.
Although the company benefited from increased Medicaid reimbursement rates during the quarter, Aveanna is continuing discussion with other payers about the value of home-based services to help support revenue and caregiver wages in the months ahead, Strange said.
“We are working diligently to solve for the recent macro pressures, but despite these challenges we are confident that the Aveanna platform and infrastructure is primed for growth,” Strange said.
Aveanna provides a suite of diversified home care services to medically complex patients in 33 states. The company will provide further details on the quarter Thursday during an earnings call with Wall Street analysts.
