“Gentiva Health plans nearly $1B Odyssey buy - Tacoma News Tribune” plus 3 more |
- Gentiva Health plans nearly $1B Odyssey buy - Tacoma News Tribune
- Intuit Grows Revenue 13 Percent in Third Quarter ... - Newswiretoday.com
- Business, Personal Finance, Technology, Employment news for Austin and ... - Austin American-Statesman
- Personal finance: Student loan changes can affect new ... - Reno Gazette
| Gentiva Health plans nearly $1B Odyssey buy - Tacoma News Tribune Posted: 24 May 2010 05:24 AM PDT Home health provider Gentiva Health Services Inc. said Monday it plans to spend nearly $1 billion in cash to buy hospice firm Odyssey HealthCare Inc. in a move to create the nation's largest provider of home health and hospice care. Atlanta-based Gentiva said it will pay $27 per share for Odyssey stock, marking a 40 percent premium to the shares' closing price Friday. Based on Odyssey's 33.8 million shares outstanding at March 31, the deal is valued at $912.3 million. Shares of Dallas-based Odyssey surged $7.02, or 36.4 percent, to $26.31 in morning trading. Shares last traded above $26 in 2004. Gentiva shares rose $2.54, or about 10 percent, to $28.33. The boards of both companies have approved the acquisition, which is expected to close in the third quarter, pending approval by regulators and Odyssey stockholders. The companies said the deal will create a hospice care provider with an average daily patient census of about 14,000 and operations in 30 states. They anticipate the combination will create a company with more than $1.8 billion in annual revenue. Gentiva expects the acquisition to add to adjusted earnings per share within the first 12 months following closing. "The two companies share similar geography between Gentiva's home health operations and Odyssey's hospice operations, with very little overlap between the two companies' hospice programs," Gentiva CEO and President Tony Strange said in a statement. Gentiva expects to raise about $1.1 billion in new debt financing to fund the purchase and refinance existing debt. The company said it has secured financing commitments from a syndicate that includes BofA Merrill Lynch, Barclays Bank PLC, General Electric Capital Corp., and SunTrust Bank and SunTrust Robinson Humphrey Inc. Edge Healthcare Partners is acting as Gentiva's financial adviser. Goldman, Sachs & Co. is acting as financial adviser to Odyssey's board. Last week, Gentiva acquired United Home Care Group, a home health and hospice service company based in Louisiana. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Gentiva said it can now provide services to about 85 percent of the state of Louisiana. Earlier this month, Gentiva was one of four home health care providers that received letters from the Senate Finance Committee questioning whether the companies increased their patient visits out of medical necessity or in order to deliberately trigger higher Medicare reimbursements. Five Filters featured article: The Art of Looking Prime Ministerial - The 2010 UK General Election. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. | |||
| Intuit Grows Revenue 13 Percent in Third Quarter ... - Newswiretoday.com Posted: 20 May 2010 01:57 PM PDT
| Results Led by Strong Tax Season; Small Business Returns to Double-Digit Growth Third-Quarter Highlights:
• Revenue increased 13 percent over the year-ago quarter to $1.6 billion, exceeding the guidance range. The company raised fiscal year guidance based on strong results across the board. For fiscal year 2010, which ends July 31, Intuit expects revenue of $3.410 billion to $3.425 billion, growth of 10 percent. Note: all comparisons are versus the same period a year ago.
Company Perspective
"We've worked hard over the past few years to position Intuit to take advantage of the secular market trends that we see as catalysts for sustained growth. In addition, we've invested in hiring and developing skills and capabilities that will benefit us for years. We've strengthened our engineering talent pool, and we've developed technology that improves the usability of our products, adds mobile capabilities, and readies our solutions for global deployment. We've also invested to ensure our customers are delighted with our products and find them incredibly easy to use. This quarter's performance is another proof point that we are stronger now than when the recession began," Smith said. Small Business total revenue grew 13 percent for the third quarter, driven by strong performance in Financial Management Solutions and Employee Management Solutions. Financial Management Solutions
• Revenue increased 16 percent versus the third quarter of 2009, led by outstanding growth in QuickBooks for the desktop, QuickBooks Online and Intuit Websites. The online customer base grew 32 percent compared to the year-ago quarter. Payment Solutions • Revenue grew 8 percent, driven by a 16 percent increase in merchants. Charge volume grew 1 percent year over year, the first increase since the third quarter of fiscal 2008. Consumer Tax Group
• Revenue increased 12 percent, with an increase in share in both the desktop and online categories. Total units were up 11 percent for the season, with Web units up 18 percent. We now believe Consumer Tax revenue will grow 12 to 13 percent in fiscal 2010. Accounting Professionals • Accounting Professionals revenue grew 15 percent over last year, capping off a solid tax season for the segment. Excluding a $9 million revenue shift deferred from the second to the third quarter, Accounting Professionals revenue grew 10 percent. Financial Institutions • Financial Services revenue grew 21 percent and bill pay users grew 16 percent. This tax season, more than 1,100 financial institutions offered TurboTax for Online Banking. Revenue grew 9 percent, excluding TurboTax for Online Banking. Approximately 450 financial institutions are signed up to offer FinanceWorks, with a growing number of banks adopting Intuit's online bill payment and mobile banking solutions. Other Businesses
• Segment revenue grew 20 percent, driven primarily by strength in Personal Finance and favorable foreign currency impact from the Canada and United Kingdom businesses.
Forward-looking Guidance
• Revenue of $3.410 billion to $3.425 billion, growth of 10 percent.
Conference Call Information
Replay information The audio webcast will remain available on Intuit's website for one week after the conference call.
About Intuit, Inc. Founded in 1983, Intuit had annual revenue of $3.1 billion in its fiscal year 2009. The company has approximately 7,800 employees with major offices in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, India and other locations.
Intuit, the Intuit logo and QuickBooks, among others, are registered trademarks and/or registered service marks of Intuit Inc. in the United States and other countries. This press release and the accompanying tables include non-GAAP financial measures. For a description of these non-GAAP financial measures, including the reasons management uses each measure, and reconciliations of these non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable financial measures prepared in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, please see the section of the accompanying tables titled "About Non-GAAP Financial Measures" as well as the related Table B and Table E. A copy of the press release issued by Intuit today can be found on the investor relations page of Intuit's Website.
Cautions About Forward-Looking Statements Because these forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, there are important factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from the expectations expressed in the forward-looking statements. These factors include, without limitation, the following: product introductions and price competition from our competitors can have unpredictable negative effects on our revenue, profitability and market position; governmental encroachment in our tax businesses or other governmental activities or public policy affecting the preparation and filing of tax returns could negatively affect our operating results and market position; if economic and market conditions in the U.S. and worldwide continue to decline, our customers may delay or reduce technology purchases which may harm our business, results of operations and financial condition; we may not be able to successfully introduce new products and services to meet our growth and profitability objectives, and current and future products and services may not adequately address customer needs and may not achieve broad market acceptance, which could harm our operating results and financial condition; any failure to maintain reliable and responsive service levels for our offerings could cause us to lose customers and negatively impact our revenues and profitability; any significant product quality problems or delays in our products could harm our revenue, earnings and reputation; our participation in the Free File Alliance may result in lost revenue opportunities and cannibalization of our traditional paid franchise; any failure to properly use and protect personal customer information could harm our revenue, earnings and reputation; our acquisition activities may be disruptive to Intuit and may not result in expected benefits; our use of significant amounts of debt to finance acquisitions or other activities could harm our financial condition and results of operations; our revenue and earnings are highly seasonal and the timing of our revenue between quarters is difficult to predict, which may cause significant quarterly fluctuations in our financial results; predicting tax-related revenues is challenging due to the heavy concentration of activity in a short time period; we have implemented, and are continuing to upgrade, new information systems and any problems with these new systems could interfere with our ability to deliver products and services and gather information to effectively manage our business; our financial position may not make repurchasing shares advisable or we may issue additional shares in an acquisition causing our number of outstanding shares to grow; and litigation involving intellectual property, antitrust, shareholder and other matters may increase our costs. More details about these and other risks that may impact our business are included in our Form 10-K for fiscal 2009 and in our other SEC filings. You can locate these reports through our website at investors.intuit.com. Forward-looking statements are based on information as of May 20, 2010, and we do not undertake any duty to update any forward-looking statement or other information in these materials. Five Filters featured article: The Art of Looking Prime Ministerial - The 2010 UK General Election. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. | ||
| Posted: 20 May 2010 06:21 PM PDT Home > The Real Deal > Archives > 2010 > May > 20 > Entry Homes sales soar in April, fueled by tax creditCentral Texas home sales skyrocketed nearly 31 percent in April and pending sales were up almost 47 percent from a year ago, as buyers rushed to beat the April 30 deadline for a federal income-tax credit, the Austin Board of Realtors said today. "Although the tax credit has expired, we are entering a growing economic, real estate and seasonal cycle which we hope will continue to provide momentum to carry our market upward," said board Chairman John Horton. The tax credit was $8,000 for first-time buyers and $6,500 for repeat buyers. For purchases where a binding contract was signed by the end of April, qualified buyers have until June 30 to complete the sale. The board reported that real estate agents sold 2,043 homes in April compared with 1,561 in April 2009. The median sale price was unchanged at $190,700. From January through April, sales are up 17 percent, the board said. The amount of time homes were on the market fell 13 percent, to an average of 69 days vs. 79 a year ago. The number of homes on the market in April — 10,749 active listings — amounted to a 6.5 month's supply, which represents a balanced market, the board said. Sales of condominiums and townhouses also were strong in April, with the 213 sales amounting to a 63 percent increase from a year ago. Pending sales for condos and townhouses rose 70 percent. "The significant increase seen in the condo and townhouse market can most likely be attributed to the first-time homebuyer tax credit," Horton said. "The median price for condos and townhouses is approximately $30,000 less than the median price for a single-family home; and therefore, these properties can be a more affordable alternative for first-time buyers." Horton said that although the tax credits have made it more attractive for some buyers to purchase now, "there are a lot of buyers who have been waiting to purchase until they were confident in the economy. Now that we are seeing recovery in the economy and real estate market, in combination with historically low interest rates, those potential buyers who have been on the fence are now taking the leap and entering the housing market." Permalink | Comments (9) | Post your comment Categories: Residential Five Filters featured article: The Art of Looking Prime Ministerial - The 2010 UK General Election. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. | |||
| Personal finance: Student loan changes can affect new ... - Reno Gazette Posted: 24 May 2010 09:56 AM PDT Graduation season is here. Which means student loan bills are close behind. Students received an early reminder of their looming debt a few weeks ago, when a new law overhauled the federal lending program. Under the rejiggered system, the Education Department will provide all federal loans through college financial aid offices starting July 1. Previously, families were able to obtain government-backed loans from private lenders through the Federal Family Education Loan program, or FFEL. Students who already have FFEL loans won't be required to make any changes. But there are scenarios when it makes sense to switch over to the direct loan program. The government expects to save $68 billion during the next decade or so by ending the subsidies it paid to private lenders. The savings will be used in part to boost education grants to the neediest students starting in 2013. There are no benefits for those who already took out loans. Still, there are some payment options new graduates will want to keep in mind. Payment plans Graduates don't have to fear being handed a bill with their diploma; most federal loans come with a six-month grace period. But interest continues accruing during that time, so the sooner repayment starts the better. The exception is with subsidized federal loans, in which the government waives interest charges until the loan comes due. The standard payment option spans 10 years, but there's no penalty for paying off debt earlier. Of course, that's probably not an issue for those carrying huge debt loads. Consolidation A consolidation loan is used to combine several federal loans, so borrowers only have to pay a single monthly bill. Private lenders are no longer offering them, but FFEL borrowers can still get consolidation loans through the direct loan program. A new interest rate will be based on the weighted average of the loans, so that interest charges will be about the same under a consolidation. You can typically only consolidate loans after you graduate. As part of its overhaul, however, the government is letting students in school consolidate loans between July 1 and June 30 of next year if they want to deal with just one lender. Five Filters featured article: The Art of Looking Prime Ministerial - The 2010 UK General Election. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. | |||
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By austinbubble.blogspot.com
May 20, 2010 12:23 PM | Link to this
Sales are up? What does that mean? What happened to prices despite the massive government stimulus? The only people who care how MANY sales are made are the realtors because they get paid on number of transactions. Dig a little deeper statesman. You're being spoon fed by the realtors.
By Jim
May 20, 2010 12:42 PM | Link to this
Sorry John Horton but a 30k difference between condo and single family would equate to a HOA fee of about $189 which is far lower than a lot of them out there. All this article does is help TCAD justify raising taxes next year.
By Jim
May 20, 2010 12:46 PM | Link to this
Sorry John Horton but a 30k difference between condo and single family would equate to a HOA fee of about $189 which is far lower than a lot of them out there. All this article does is help TCAD justify raising taxes next year.
By Billy
May 20, 2010 12:57 PM | Link to this
IF you could steal $8,000 from your neighbor and not get caught—would you do it? This is legalize THEFT! Only certain people can get this $8000 credit——YOUR neighbors get to pay for it. OH LOOK AT ME—-I stole $8000 from the feds and my neighbors will pay for it!
By Brian
May 20, 2010 1:15 PM | Link to this
Median really fell if you discount for the tax credit giveaway $$$. Don't forget to file your property tax protest before June 1st. If you need help, go to www.changeaustin.org for valuable links.
By bb
May 20, 2010 4:29 PM | Link to this
That is weird. My house has been on the market for a spell and I've had zero offers. Where are all these buyers?
By Garry Wise
May 20, 2010 6:05 PM | Link to this
How can you ground the assertion that these sales were fueled by the tax credit? My research into historical sales says differently. Once you research the % of sales of homes below $250,000 and measure that against April of last year….they are the same percentage. If, in fact, the tax credit fueled the activity, wouldn't the numbers indicate a higher percentage of lower-priced homes? Updated stats and assessments will be loaded here tomorrow afternoon: glt.bz/stats
By McNasty
May 20, 2010 10:26 PM | Link to this
Please don't try to pass comments from ABOR as objective. When is the last time this group presented a negative outlook? You have exhausted your market of sellers in the near future, and more buyers are looking to list.
By Jack Miller
May 21, 2010 11:01 AM | Link to this
Shonda-
The devil is in the details on this. We have a different assessment based on the percentage of overall home sales below $250k, which is essentially unchanged from last year (70%). So is it the tax credit, or the overall market if the same percentage of buyers were purchasing in 1st time home buyer price ranges?
Jack