* Cites weak business climate, unemployment outlook in 2013
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* Shares decline 11 percent in after-hours trading
Nov 5 (Reuters) – U.S. pharmacy benefits manager Express
Scripts Holding Co posted higher quarterly earnings on
Monday but said it sees analysts’ forecasts for its 2013 results
as too aggressive, citing the weak business climate and
unemployment outlook.
The company said third-quarter earnings excluding special
items were $1.02 per share, compared with 79 cents a year ago.
Analysts on average were expecting 99 cents a share,
according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Express Scripts raised the lower end of its forecast range
for 2012 earnings by 5 cents and now projects full-year profit
this year of $3.65 to $3.75 a share.
But it deemed analysts forecasts for its 2013 earnings as
“overly aggressive,” citing an expected loss of claims from its
UnitedHealthcare business and the economic environment.
Analysts had projected Express Scripts to earn $4.49 a share
in 2013, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
The company said it expects healthcare utilization rates to
remain low, and client demands and expectations to increase.
The company’s stock fell 11 percent in after-hours trading
from a close of $62.88 Monday on Nasdaq.
