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In First Earnings Since WellCare Merger, Centene Posts $74.6B in Annual Revenues

Analysis  |  By Jack O'Brien  
   February 04, 2020

The St. Louis-based insurer finished the year with 15.2 million managed care members, up 1.1 million year-over-year.

Two weeks after closing its $17.3 billion megamerger with WellCare Health Plans, Centene Corp. posted full-year revenues of $74.6 billion, according to its latest earnings report.

The company's year-end diluted earnings per share (EPS) was $3.14, up 39% year-over-year, while its adjusted EPS was $4.42, an increase of 25%.

For Q4 2019, Centene ended with total revenues of $18.8 billion, up 14% year-over-year, with diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.49, down 14%.

The St. Louis-based insurer finished the year with 15.2 million managed care members, up 1.1 million year-over-year.

Related: Centene-WellCare Megamerger Closes

Related: Centene Posts Nearly $19B in Revenues as N.Y. Approves WellCare Merger

Centene's Medicaid membership increased by nearly 300,000 members in 2019, while its total at-risk membership jumped by more than 1 million members.

C-suite perspective: 

"I am pleased with our performance in the fourth quarter and full year 2019, resulting in 24% full year top and bottom line growth. This caps off another successful year for Centene and provides strong, positive momentum as we head into 2020," Michael Neidorff, CEO of Centene, said in a statement. "Having recently closed our acquisition of WellCare, we look ahead to 2020 and beyond with great confidence in the opportunities that lie ahead. Our company will have even greater scale and diversification, serving 1 in every 15 Americans, maintaining our leadership in government-sponsored healthcare. We are happy to welcome our WellCare colleagues to Centene and look forward to delivering on our strategy."

Centene did report a negative total cash flow provided by operations of $651 million in Q4, though its year-end total cash flow topped $1.4 billion.

Centene's total cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash and cash equivalents were north of $12.1 billion for 2019, well above the $5.3 billion reported for 2018.

Related: Centene-WellCare Merger Changes Medicaid Insurance Equation in Georgia

As it relates to the WellCare merger moving forward, Centene expects the deal to be "no less than break even accretion" for the first full year and "mid-to-upper single digit accretion" in the second full year. 

Centene's guidance for 2020 also remains unchanged from the one given at its investor day in December.

The insurer's stock was trading up slightly during the early morning session.

Additional Centene Q4 earnings report highlights:  

  • The insurer reported $21.4 billion in cash, investments, and restricted deposits at the end of 2019.
  • For Q4 2019, commercial revenues rose 16% year-over-year, Medicaid revenues jumped 12%, and Medicare revenues increased 2%.
  • Dual-eligible membership increased by nearly 41,000 covered lives in 2019.

For complete financial information, review Centene's filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Jack O'Brien is the Content Team Lead and Finance Editor at HealthLeaders, an HCPro brand.

Photo credit: KIEV, UKRAINE - Dec 11, 2018: Centene Corporation Insurance company logo seen displayed on smart phone. - Image / Editorial credit: IgorGolovniov / Shutterstock.com


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