CNC Centene Corp

Medicaid-focused health insurer Centene Corp. on Tuesday reported its top and bottom lines nearly doubled in the most recent quarter, handily beating expectations, as a key measure of the company's medical costs fell, it continued to add members and results saw a boost from the Health Net acquisition.

Chief Executive Michael Neidorff said the Health Net integration remains on track and "the benefits of our greater scale and diversity are being realized accordingly."

In the quarter that ended in June, Centene's Medicaid business again more than doubled to include 11.4 million members.

Membership, meanwhile, rose by 6.8 million from a year earlier to 11.4 million.

Centene's medical-loss ratio, or the share of premiums paid out for members' health expenses, shrank to 86.6% from 89.1% a year ago.

Overall, the company posted a profit of $168 million, or 98 cents a share, up from $88 million, or 72 cents a share, a year earlier.

The 2016 quarter included a 19-cent-a-share benefit related to the 2015 risk adjustment and reinsurance reconciliations under the Affordable Care Act in connection with the health insurance marketplace business. Excluding Health Net acquisition expenses, adjusted earnings rose to $1.29 a share from 76 cents.

Revenue shot up 98% to $10.9 billion.

Analysts were looking for adjusted earnings of $1.09 a share on $10.79 billion in revenue.

In March, the company completed its $6.3 billion merger with Health Net, as health insurers increasingly look for tie-ups that can help them cut costs and grow scale. St. Louis-based Centene is looking for the deal to boost its presence in California and other western states.

Shares, which have added 13% over the past three months, were up 2.3% at $77.00 in premarket trading.

Write to Anne Steele at Anne.Steele@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 26, 2016 07:25 ET (11:25 GMT)

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