Amedisys Affirms 2009 Profit Estimate

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Home nursing company Amedisys Inc. reiterated on Friday its earnings outlook for 2009, a day after its shares plunged following the resignation of two top executives.

The home health and hospice company said it expects a profit of $4.75 to $4.90 per share this year. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect a profit of $4.84 per share. Net service revenue should be between $1.48 billion and $1.5 billion, the company said.

Amedisys said Thursday that its president and chief operating officer, Larry Graham, and chief information officer, Alice Schwartz, resigned effective immediately to pursue other opportunities. CEO William Borne will temporarily take over for Graham.

Raymond James analyst John Ransom said Amedisys is losing its COO at a "critical juncture" because home health care companies are facing sharp cuts in Medicare reimbursement rates. He thinks Graham, 43, and Schwartz, 42, left because of disagreements about who would succeed company founder Borne, 51, and not because of any problems with Amedisys' business.

Amedisys shares fell $9.42, or 22 percent, to $34.04 on Thursday. It shares rebounded to $34.61 in Friday morning trading.