Care Enterprises Posts ’92 Profit Increase of 137% to $5.7 Million : Health care: The Tustin-based nursing-home chain’s revenue is also up. It attributes its earnings to new branches in its business.

Care Enterprises Inc. said Wednesday that it had a profit of $5.7 million last year, the nursing-home chain’s second year out of bankruptcy. That was up from earnings of $2.4 million for 1991.

Revenue rose to $192 million from $186 million.

The company said that its earnings--which came to 49 cents a share, up from 24 cents for 1991--went up because it added branches to its home health-care business, which treats the aged, AIDS patients, pregnant women and others in their homes. The company has 14 such branches in California and Ohio, two of which opened in the past few months.

The company, based in Tustin, also said that its 51 nursing homes in California, Ohio, New Mexico and West Virginia prospered during the year.

Revenue rose because the company has been opening treatment centers in its nursing homes for people who are sicker than the usual nursing-home patients. Those centers offer services such as physical and speech therapy. Other nursing-home chains have done the same thing.

Also, Medicare and insurance companies paid higher reimbursements for medical care last year, boosting revenue at most health-care companies.

Subtracting from revenue was the company’s pharmacy unit, which provides drugs to nursing-home patients. That business was merged with another company that shares profit with Care Enterprises but not revenue.

Care Enterprises filed for bankruptcy reorganization in 1988 after a disastrous expansion. It emerged from court protection in 1991 at half of its previous size.

The company has paid down what it owes lenders by more than half since 1991, to about $15 million.

“The debt payments were so severe when we came out of bankruptcy that we anticipated selling more” nursing homes, President Richard K. Matros said.

That has not been necessary yet. But with more large payments due soon, Matros said, the company is negotiating with its lenders.