PacifiCare Posts Strong First-Quarter Earnings, Sales

PacifiCare Health Systems, Orange County’s largest health maintenance organization, on Wednesday posted strong quarterly earnings and sales on the heels of a profitable acquisition.

PacifiCare purchased Orange-based Health Plan of America in December, 1991. That addition contributed about 23% to the latest quarter’s profit, the company said.

For its first fiscal quarter, which ended Dec. 31, PacifiCare had a profit of $10.7 million, or 39 cents a share. That was a 62% jump from earnings of $6.6 million, or 29 cents a share, for the previous first quarter.

Sales, bolstered by a 12% increase in membership, was $484.7 million, up 35% from $360 million a year earlier.

Membership gains were driven by the company’s Secure Horizons Medicare program, which was up 34% from the same quarter last year. In December, the Secure Horizons Medicare program became the largest Medicare risk program in the state. Commercial membership also grew 7% over the past year.

Terry Hartshorn, PacifiCare’s chief executive, attributed the gains also to “a substantial improvement in our overhead expense ratio.”

The positive earnings report nudged PacifiCare’s stock upward on the NASDAQ market. It closed at $56.75 a share, up 75 cents.