AMN Healthcare Reports Third Quarter 2007 Results

SAN DIEGO, Oct. 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- AMN Healthcare Services, Inc. , the nation's largest healthcare staffing company, today reported revenue of $300.3 million for the third quarter of 2007, an increase of 6% from the $282.7 million reported for the same quarter last year, and 2% higher than the $293.9 million in revenue reported last quarter. Diluted earnings per share for the third quarter of 2007 of $0.29 increased 4% compared to last year, and 12% compared to last quarter.

"Our success in executing well on both our short-term initiatives and our long-term strategy has driven growth in each of our business segments," said Susan R. Nowakowski, President and Chief Executive Officer. "While all businesses performed well this quarter, our locum tenens Staff Care team delivered exceptional results, which contributed to AMN Healthcare surpassing our expectations and guidance for revenue," said Nowakowski. She also noted that gross margins improved significantly over the prior quarter because of initiatives put in place over the past several months.

Gross profit for the third quarter of 2007 was $79.7 million, representing a 26.6% gross margin, as compared to $76.7 million, or 27.1% gross margin, for the third quarter of 2006 and $75.0 million, or 25.5% gross margin, for the second quarter of 2007. The decline in gross margin on a year over year basis was due mainly to higher housing and health insurance costs in the nurse and allied segment. The increase in gross margin compared to last quarter was due primarily to a widening pay-to-bill spread in both the nurse and allied and locum tenens staffing segments. Gross margins by business segment for the third quarter of 2007 were 24.2% for nurse and allied healthcare staffing, 27.0% for locum tenens staffing and 60.2% for physician permanent placement services.

Selling, general, and administrative ("SG&A") expenses for the third quarter of 2007 were $55.8 million, or 18.6% of revenue, as compared to $54.1 million, or 19.1% of revenue, for the third quarter of 2006 and $53.5 million, or 18.2% of revenue, for the second quarter of 2007. The reduction in SG&A as a percentage of revenue compared to the prior year period in part reflects management's continued efforts to further leverage the company's infrastructure in order to increase operating margins.

Income from operations for the third quarter of 2007 was $21.0 million, or 7.0% of revenue, as compared to $20.0 million, or 7.1% of revenue, for the third quarter of 2006, and $18.6 million, or 6.3% of revenue, for the second quarter of 2007. The decrease in operating margin compared to the prior year period was due to lower gross margin partially offset by lower SG&A expenses as a percentage of revenue. The increase in operating margin compared to last quarter was due mainly to higher gross margin.

Net interest expense for the third quarter of 2007 was $3.1 million, compared to $4.2 million for the third quarter of 2006 and $3.1 million for the second quarter of 2007. The decrease in net interest expense from the same quarter last year was due primarily to a continued reduction in outstanding debt.

Income tax expense as a percentage of pre-tax income for the third quarter of 2007 was 43.7%, compared to 40.1% for the third quarter of 2006 and 40.2% for the second quarter of 2007. The increase was due mainly to a $0.6 million adjustment to the company's income tax reserve which resulted in a $0.02 reduction to this quarter's diluted earnings per share.

The company generated $20.8 million in cash flow from operations during the third quarter of 2007 which, in addition to cash on-hand, was used to repurchase one million shares of the company's common stock in August of this year and pay down debt. Total debt outstanding at September 30, 2007 was $157.1 million, yielding a leverage ratio of 1.6 times. Weighted average diluted shares outstanding for the third quarter of 2007 were 34.7 million.

Revenue and Earnings Guidance for Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2007

Management expects revenue for the fourth quarter of 2007 to range from $286 million to $288 million and diluted earnings per share to range from $0.24 to $0.26. The moderate decrease in revenue and earnings expected during the fourth quarter is due to the normal year-end seasonal trends in our temporary healthcare staffing businesses. Management reaffirms its full year guidance, with revenue expected to range from $1.16 billion to $1.17 billion and diluted earnings per share expected to range from $1.02 to $1.04.

"As we enter the fourth year executing our diversified service strategy, resulting in nearly doubling both our revenue and earnings from three years ago, we are pleased with the evolution of this strategy and the increased strength of our leading market position. As the largest provider in what we believe are the most attractive segments of the healthcare staffing industry, and with more clients in more locations than any other company, we are well positioned for long-term growth," said Nowakowski. "Looking forward to 2008 and beyond, we believe that our proven ability to execute along with our willingness to remain attuned to market changes and agile in our approach will deliver growth in all of our segments," added Nowakowski.

Ms. Nowakowski added, "Last week, our corporate office in San Diego was closed for two days as a precautionary measure due to wildfires in the area. We are thankful to report that all of our team members are safe, and nearly everyone is back in their homes. While a short period of time, this was a real life test of our disaster recovery and business continuity plans, which I'm pleased to say, worked beautifully. During this time, our teams were able to continue to serve our healthcare professionals and client facilities with minimal sales or service interruption. This success, in the face of such environmental difficulty, is a testament to the incredible dedication and skill of the AMN team in San Diego and at our regional offices who quickly stepped up to execute AMN's business continuity plan and provide immediate and near seamless coverage."

Company Summary

AMN Healthcare Services, Inc. is the largest temporary healthcare staffing company in the United States. The company is the largest nationwide provider of travel nurse staffing services, locum tenens staffing services (temporary physician staffing) and physician permanent placement services, and also a leading nationwide provider of allied healthcare staffing services. AMN Healthcare recruits healthcare professionals both nationally and internationally and places them on variable lengths of assignments and in permanent positions at acute-care hospitals, physician practice groups and other healthcare facilities throughout the United States.

Conference Call on October 30, 2007

AMN Healthcare Services, Inc.'s third quarter 2007 conference call will be held on Tuesday, October 30, 2007, at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time. A live webcast of the call can be accessed through AMN Healthcare's website at http://www.amnhealthcare.com/investors. Please log in at least 10 minutes prior to the conference call in order to download the applicable audio software. Interested parties may participate live via telephone by dialing (800) 230- 1092 in the U.S. or (612) 332-0107 internationally. Following the conclusion of the call, a replay of the webcast will be available on the company's web site within four hours. Alternatively, a telephonic replay of the call will be available at 10:15 p.m. Eastern Time on October 30, 2007, and can be accessed until November 13, 2007 at midnight Eastern Time, by calling (800) 475-6701 in the U.S. or (320) 365-3844 internationally, with access code 890496.

From time to time, additional information regarding non-GAAP financial measures may be made available on the company's website at http://www.amnhealthcare.com/investors.

Forward-Looking Statements

This earnings release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Such statements include the revenue and earnings guidance for the fourth quarter and full year 2007, and Ms. Nowakowski's comments including those regarding revenue growth, gross margin, the company's market position, and the impact of the Southern California wildfires at the company's business operations. The company based these forward-looking statements on its current expectations and projections about future events. Actual results could differ materially from those discussed in, or implied by, these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are identified by words such as "believe," "anticipate," "expect," "intend," "plan," "will," "may" and other similar expressions. In addition, any statements that refer to expectations, projections or other characterizations of future events or circumstances are forward-looking statements. The following factors could cause the company's actual results to differ materially from those implied by the forward-looking statements in this earnings release: the company's ability to continue to recruit qualified temporary and permanent healthcare professionals at reasonable costs; the company's ability to retain qualified temporary healthcare professionals for multiple assignments at reasonable costs; the company's ability to attract and retain sales and operational personnel; the company's ability to enter into contracts with hospitals, healthcare facility clients, affiliated healthcare networks and physician practice groups on terms attractive to the company and to secure orders related to those contracts; the company's ability to demonstrate the value of its services to its healthcare and facility clients; the company's ability to maintain and enhance the brand identities we have developed, at reasonable costs; changes in the timing of hospital, healthcare facility and physician practice group clients' orders for temporary healthcare professionals; the general level of patient occupancy at hospital and healthcare facility clients' facilities; the overall level of demand for services offered by temporary and permanent healthcare staffing providers; the ability of hospital, healthcare facility and physician practice group clients to retain and increase the productivity of their permanent staff; the variation in pricing of the healthcare facility contracts under which the company places temporary healthcare professionals; the company's ability to successfully design its strategic growth, acquisition and integration strategies and to implement those strategies, including integration of acquired companies' accounting, management information, human resource and other administrative systems, and implementation or remediation of controls, procedures and policies at acquired companies; the company's ability to leverage its cost structure; access to and undisrupted performance of the company's management information and communication systems, including use of the Internet, and our candidate and client databases and payroll and billing software systems; our ability to keep our web sites operational at a reasonable cost and without service interruptions; the effect of existing or future government legislation and regulation; the company's ability to grow and operate its business in compliance with legislation and regulations; the challenge to the classification of certain of the company's healthcare professionals as independent contractors; the impact of medical malpractice and other claims asserted against the company; the impact on the company's earnings related to share-based payment awards due to changes in accounting rules; the disruption or adverse impact to the company's business as a result of a terrorist attack; the company's ability to carry out its business strategy and maintain sufficient cash flow and capital structure to support its business; the loss of key officers and management personnel that could adversely affect the company's ability to remain competitive; the effect of recognition by the company of an impairment to goodwill; and the effect of adjustments by the company to accruals for self-insured retentions. Other factors that could cause actual results to differ from those implied by the forward-looking statements contained in this earnings release are set forth in the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2006, its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and its Current Reports on Form 8-K. These statements reflect the company's current beliefs and are based upon information currently available to it. Be advised that developments subsequent to this earnings release are likely to cause these statements to become outdated with the passage of time. The company does not intend, however, to update the guidance provided today prior to its next earnings release.

AMN Healthcare Services, Inc. Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income (dollars in thousands, except per share amounts) (unaudited) Three Months Ended Nine Months Ended September 30, September 30, 2007 2006 % Chg 2007 2006 % Chg Revenue $300,267 $282,728 6.2% $878,123 $798,169 10.0% Cost of revenue 220,529 206,036 7.0% 650,921 583,154 11.6% Gross profit 79,738 76,692 4.0% 227,202 215,015 5.7% 26.6% 27.1% 25.9% 26.9% Operating expenses: Selling, general and administrative 55,769 54,071 3.1% 162,340 154,316 5.2% 18.6% 19.1% 18.5% 19.3% Depreciation and amortization 2,979 2,638 12.9% 8,465 7,628 11.0% Total operating expenses 58,748 56,709 3.6% 170,805 161,944 5.5% Income from operations 20,990 19,983 5.0% 56,397 53,071 6.3% 7.0% 7.1% 6.4% 6.6% Interest expense, net 3,071 4,174 -26.4% 9,529 12,666 -24.8% Income before income taxes 17,919 15,809 13.3% 46,868 40,405 16.0% Income tax expense 7,831 6,337 23.6% 19,340 15,361 25.9% Net income $10,088 $9,472 6.5% $27,528 $25,044 9.9% 3.4% 3.4% 3.1% 3.1% Net income per common share: Basic $0.29 $0.29 0.0% $0.80 $0.78 2.6% Diluted $0.29 $0.28 3.6% $0.78 $0.73 6.8% Weighted average common shares outstanding: Basic 34,328 32,453 5.8% 34,562 32,146 7.5% Diluted 34,745 33,995 2.2% 35,098 34,313 2.3% AMN Healthcare Services, Inc. Supplemental Financial and Operating Data (dollars in thousands, except operating data) (unaudited) Three Months Ended Nine Months Ended September 30, September 30, % of % of % of % of 2007 Rev 2006 Rev 2007 Rev 2006 Rev Revenue Nurse and allied healthcare staffing $204,083 $201,925 $605,380 $561,122 Locum tenens staffing 83,004 68,491 234,346 199,992 Physician permanent placement services 13,180 12,312 38,397 37,055 $300,267 $282,728 $878,123 $798,169 Adjusted EBITDA(1) Nurse and allied healthcare staffing $15,674 7.7% $16,104 8.0% $43,040 7.1% $42,228 7.5% Locum tenens staffing 7,555 9.1% 4,800 7.0% 18,613 7.9% 14,418 7.2% Physician permanent placement services 3,006 22.8% 3,574 29.0% 9,429 24.6% 9,068 24.5% 26,235 8.7% 24,478 8.7% 71,082 8.1% 65,714 8.2% Depreciation and amortization 2,979 2,638 8,465 7,628 Non-cash stock-based compensation 2,266 1,857 6,220 5,015 Interest expense, net 3,071 4,174 9,529 12,666 Income before income taxes 17,919 15,809 46,868 40,405 Income tax expense 7,831 6,337 19,340 15,361 Net income $10,088 $9,472 $27,528 $25,044 Three Months Ended Nine Months Ended September 30, September 30, 2007 2006 % Chg 2007 2006 % Chg Gross Margin Nurse and allied healthcare staffing 24.2% 25.4% 23.6% 24.9% Locum tenens staffing 27.0% 26.2% 26.0% 26.4% Physician permanent placement services 60.2% 60.7% 61.1% 60.5% Operating Data: Nurse and allied healthcare staffing Average travelers on assignment (2) 6,895 7,015 -1.7% 6,981 6,731 3.7% Revenue per traveler per day(3) $321.72 $312.88 2.8% $317.65 $305.36 4.0% Gross profit per traveler per day(3) $77.84 $79.44 -2.0% $74.95 $76.07 -1.5% Locum tenens staffing Days filled(4) 57,036 51,205 11.4% 166,937 149,990 11.3% Revenue per day filled (4) $1,455.29 $1,337.58 8.8% $1,403.80 $1,333.37 5.3% Gross profit per day filled (4) $393.33 $350.55 12.2% $364.82 $352.09 3.6% (1) Adjusted EBITDA represents net income plus interest expense (net of interest income), income taxes, depreciation and amortization and non-cash stock-based compensation expense. Management presents adjusted EBITDA because it believes that adjusted EBITDA is a useful supplement to net income as an indicator of operating performance. Management believes that adjusted EBITDA is an industry-wide financial measure that is useful both to management and investors when evaluating the company's performance. Management also uses adjusted EBITDA for planning purposes. Management uses adjusted EBITDA to evaluate the company's performance because it believes that adjusted EBITDA more accurately reflects the company's results, as it excludes certain items, in particular non-cash stock-based compensation charges that management believes are not indicative of the company's operating performance. However, adjusted EBITDA is not intended to represent cash flows for the period, nor has it been presented as an alternative to operating or net income as an indicator of operating performance, and it should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with United States generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). As defined, adjusted EBITDA is not necessarily comparable to other similarly titled captions of other companies due to potential inconsistencies in the method of calculation. While management believes that some of the items excluded from adjusted EBITDA are not indicative of the company's operating performance, these items do impact the income statement, and management therefore utilizes adjusted EBITDA as an operating performance measure in conjunction with GAAP measures such as net income. (2) Average travelers on assignment represents the average number of nurse and allied healthcare professionals on assignment during the period presented. (3) Revenue per traveler per day and gross profit per traveler per day represent the revenue and gross profit of the company's nurse and allied healthcare staffing segment divided by average travelers on assignment, divided by the number of days in the period presented. (4) Days filled is calculated by dividing the locum tenens hours filled during the period by 8 hours. Revenue per day filled and gross profit per day filled represent revenue and gross profit of the company's locum tenens staffing segment divided by days filled for the period presented. AMN Healthcare Services, Inc. Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets (in thousands) (unaudited) September 30, June 30, December 31, 2007 2007 2006 Assets Current assets: Cash and cash equivalents $6,170 $17,527 $4,422 Accounts receivable, net 194,694 195,213 192,716 Deferred income taxes, net 24,763 24,985 26,275 Other current assets 12,679 13,192 12,442 Total current assets 238,306 250,917 235,855 Fixed assets, net 24,159 24,303 23,236 Goodwill, net 243,680 243,680 240,719 Intangible assets, net 114,484 115,443 112,116 Deposits and other assets 11,441 11,644 10,255 Total assets $632,070 $645,987 $622,181 Liabilities and stockholders' equity Current liabilities: Bank overdraft $-- $1,736 $10,353 Accounts payable and accrued expenses 21,930 21,632 20,273 Accrued compensation and benefits 44,881 43,116 42,585 Income taxes payable 6,294 6,455 2,727 Current portion of notes payable 17,217 15,822 12,901 Deferred revenue 7,364 6,705 6,397 Other current liabilities 26,007 26,015 25,731 Total current liabilities 123,693 121,481 120,967 Notes payable, less current portion 139,890 151,437 160,479 Deferred income taxes, net 67,723 67,645 69,365 Other long-term liabilities 35,700 33,863 26,824 Total liabilities 367,006 374,426 377,635 Stockholders' equity 265,064 271,561 244,546 Total liabilities and stockholders' equity $632,070 $645,987 $622,181 AMN Healthcare Services, Inc. Condensed Consolidated Cash Flow Statement (in thousands) (unaudited) Three Months Ended Nine Months Ended September 30, September 30, September 30, September 30, 2007 2006 2007 2006 Net cash provided by operating activities $20,817 $3,799 $54,310 $45,948 Net cash used in investing activities (1,859) (2,290) (11,973) (42,680) Net cash used in financing activities (30,319) (2,817) (40,607) (18,784) Effect of exchange rates on cash 4 (69) 18 (83) Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents (11,357) (1,377) 1,748 (15,599) Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period 17,527 4,888 4,422 19,110 Cash and cash equivalents at end of period $6,170 $3,511 $6,170 $3,511 (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060718/LATU121LOGO) Contact: David C. Dreyer Chief Financial Officer Christopher Schwartz Vice President, Financial Reporting and Investor Relations 866.861.3229