Amedisys Reports Record Fourth Quarter Revenue and Net Income

Amedisys, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMED), one of America’s leading home health nursing companies, today reported its financial results for the fourth quarter and the year ended December 31, 2008. We posted record financial performance for the fourth quarter with net service revenue and net income increasing 75.3% and 57.6%, respectively, over the fourth quarter of 2007. Following are highlights of our performance for the fourth quarter and the full-year:

Three-Month Periods Ended December 31, 2008 and 2007

• Net service revenue increased 75.3% to $340.1 million compared to $194.0 million in 2007.
• Net income increased 57.6% to $26.3 million compared to $16.7 million in 2007.
• Diluted earnings per share increased 54.0% to $0.97 compared to $0.63 per diluted share in 2007. The weighted average number of diluted shares outstanding increased to approximately 27.1 million compared to 26.5 million in 2007.
• Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization ("EBITDA”) increased 68.8% to $51.4 million compared to $30.4 million in 2007.
• After adding back $0.2 million or $0.01 per diluted share in certain TLC Health Care Services, Inc. ("TLC”) integration costs¹ for the three month period in 2008, the following would have been our results:
  • Adjusted net income increased 58.7% to $26.5 million compared to $16.7 million in 2007;
  • Adjusted diluted earnings per share increased 55.6% to $0.98 compared to $0.63 per diluted share in 2007; and
  • Adjusted EBITDA increased 69.7% to $51.7 million compared to $30.4 million in 2007.

Years Ended December 31, 2008 and 2007

• Net service revenue increased 70.1% to $1,187.4 million compared to $697.9 million in 2007.
• Net income increased 33.1% to $86.7 million compared to $65.1 million in 2007.
• Diluted earnings per share increased 29.8% to $3.22 compared to $2.48 per diluted share in 2007. The weighted average number of diluted shares outstanding increased to approximately 26.9 million compared to 26.3 million in 2007.
• EBITDA increased 55.6% to $177.4 million compared to $114.0 million in 2007.
• After adding back $4.0 million or $0.09 per diluted share in certain TLC integration costs¹ for 2008, and excluding the $4.2 million or $0.16 per diluted share Alliance gain² for 2007, the following would have been our results:
  • Adjusted net income increased 46.3% to $89.1 million compared to $60.9 million in 2007;
  • Adjusted diluted earnings per share increased 42.7% to $3.31 compared to $2.32 per diluted share in 2007; and
  • Adjusted EBITDA increased 65.2% to $181.4 million compared to $109.8 million in 2007.

"Today we are reporting outstanding results, with record revenue and earnings for both the fourth quarter and full year,” said William F. Borne, CEO. "This marks the sixth consecutive year that earnings per share growth has exceeded 20%. Additionally, during the past year we have positioned the company well to continue our strong financial performance through completing the largest acquisition in our company’s history, continuing our start-up strategy, introducing our Specialty Division and strengthening our balance sheet through significant debt repayment. We will continue to focus on our three pronged business strategy that has been the foundation of this success namely: providing superior clinical services, growing the business aggressively and becoming as operationally efficient as possible.”

¹ See footnote 2 on page 5 for an explanation of these certain TLC integration costs.

² See footnote 3 on page 5 for an explanation of the Alliance gain.

We urge caution in considering our current trends disclosed in this press release. The home health and hospice industry is highly competitive and subject to intensive regulations, and trends and guidance are subject to numerous factors, risks, and influences, some of which are referenced in the cautionary language below and others that are described more fully in our reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC”) including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2007, and subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and current reports on Form 8-K which can be found on the SEC’s internet website, http://www.sec.gov, and our internet website, http://www.amedisys.com. We disclaim any obligations to update disclosed information on trends or targets.

Earnings Call and Webcast Information

To participate in the conference call, please dial (800) 289-0544 (Domestic) or (913) 905-3164 (International) a few minutes before 10:00 a.m. ET on Tuesday, February 17, 2009. A replay of the conference call will be available beginning at 1:00 p.m. ET on February 17, 2009 through February 24, 2009. The replay dial in number is (888) 203-1112 (Domestic) or (719) 457-0820 (International). The replay pin number is 7194646.

The call will also be available on the internet live and for seven days thereafter at the following web address: http://www.amedisys.com/investors.

We are headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Our common stock trades on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol "AMED.”

Additional information

Our company website address is www.amedisys.com, which we use as a channel of distribution for important company information. Important information, including press releases, analyst presentations and financial information regarding our company is routinely posted on and accessible on the "Investor Relations” subpage of our website, which is accessible by clicking on the tab labeled "Investors” on our website home page. We also use our website to expedite public access to time-critical information regarding our company in advance of or in lieu of distributing a press release or a filing with the SEC disclosing the same information. Therefore, investors should look to the "Investor Relations” subpage of our web site for important and time-critical information. Visitors to our website can also register to receive automatic e-mail and other notifications alerting them when new information is made available on the "Investor Relations” subpage of our website.

Forward-Looking Statements

When included in this press release, words like "believes,” "belief,” "expects,” "plans,” "anticipates,” "intends,” "projects,” "estimates,” "may,” "might,” "would,” "should” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements as defined by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements involve a variety of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described therein. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: general economic and business conditions, changes in or our failure to comply with existing Federal and State laws or regulations or the inability to comply with new government regulations on a timely basis, changes in Medicare and other medical payment levels, our ability to find appropriate companies to acquire, to complete acquisitions we announce from time to time, and to secure any financing related thereto, our ability to meet debt service requirements and comply with covenants in debt agreements, demographic changes, availability and terms of capital, our ability to attract and retain qualified personnel, ongoing development and success of new start-ups, our ability to successfully integrate newly acquired agencies, changes in estimates and judgments associated with critical accounting policies and business disruption due to natural disasters or acts of terrorism, and various other matters, many of which are beyond our control.

Because forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, some of which cannot be predicted or quantified, you should not rely on any forward-looking statement as a prediction of future events. We expressly disclaim any obligation or undertaking and we do not intend to release publicly any updates or changes in our expectations concerning the forward-looking statements or any changes in events, conditions or circumstances upon which any forward-looking statement may be based.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

This press release includes the following non-GAAP financial measures as defined under SEC rules: EBITDA, defined as net income before provision for income taxes, net interest expense and depreciation and amortization, Adjusted EBITDA, defined as EBITDA plus certain TLC integration costs, Adjusted net income, defined as net income plus certain TLC acquisition costs less the Alliance gain, and Adjusted diluted earnings per share, defined as diluted earnings per share plus the earnings per share effect of certain TLC acquisitions costs less the earnings per share effect of the Alliance gain. In accordance with SEC rules, we have provided herein a reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable measure under generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP”). Management believes that these are useful gauges of our performance and are common measures used in our industry to assess relative financial performance among companies.