Homedco Posts Record Sales, Profit for Fiscal 1993 : Earnings: The Fountain Valley company’s performance is attributed to its purchase of a home health-care firm.

Homedco Group Inc. said Wednesday that profit for its fiscal year ending Sept. 30 grew to a record $24.5 million, up 39% from $17.6 million in fiscal 1992.

Sales for the provider of at-home health-care services also hit a record. At $470.3 million, they were up 55% from $303.4 million the year before.

The company’s annual profit equaled $1.86 a share, up from $1.35 a share a year earlier.

Although Homedco profits and earnings have been growing on their own, the company’s August, 1992, purchase of Glasrock, a home health-care company operating in the Southeast, was responsible for much of the record-setting performance this year.

For the fourth quarter, Homedco’s profit rose to $6.9 million, or 53 cents a share, from $1.9 million, or 15 cents a share. The company took a $4.3-million charge in the final period of fiscal 1992 for a restructuring to fit Glasrock into its business.

Sales for the 1993 fourth quarter were $121.1 million, compared to $95.2 million for the same period in 1992.

Homedco provides respiratory therapy and intravenous-drug therapy to patients in their own homes. This is considered a growth market because it is less expensive than keeping patients in hospitals or nursing homes, and Homedco can anticipate strong growth in the coming year, said stock analyst Matthew Spotswood of San Francisco brokerage Dakin Securities Corp.

In-home services are 30% to 50% cheaper than the costs for the same services in a hospital, Spotswood said.

Jeremy M. Jones, Homedco’s chairman and chief executive officer, said Wednesday that the year’s results showed the company “smoothly and efficiently integrating (Glasrock), one of the home care industry’s largest acquisitions.”

Spotswood lauded the company’s management, but said: “There is still fat to be cut.

“There’s also still a lot to be done to integrate Glasrock into the company, and more opportunities for continued control of costs,” he said.

Homedco, based in Fountain Valley, has 218 branches in 44 states.

On the strength of Wednesday’s earnings report, Homedco common stock rose 75 cents in Nasdaq trading, closing at $30 a share.

Homedco Reports Record Revenue and Earnings

Homedco Group Inc. reported revenue of $470.3 million for its latest fiscal year, up 55% from the previous 12 months. Profit was $24.5 million, up 39%. Figures in millions except data per share:

4th quarter 4th quarter 12 months 12 months 1992 1993 1992 1993 Revenue $95.2 $121.1 $303.4 $470.3 Net income 1.9 6.9 17.6* 24.5 Per share 0.15 0.53 1.35 1.86

* Net income for fiscal 1992 included a restructuring charge and the cumulative effect of a change in accounting for income taxes.

Source: Homedco Group Inc.; Researched by JANICE L. JONES / Los Angeles Times