Centene Corporation Lowers 2012 Earnings Guidance Range; $1.45-1.65 from $2.64-2.84 Prior vs $2.68 Est

Centene Corporation CNC announced today that it is revising its 2012 guidance to $1.45 to $1.65 per diluted share, from the previously announced range of $2.64 to $2.84 per diluted share. The revised guidance range reflects negative financial results in May for our Kentucky Health Plan and the Hidalgo service area in our Texas Health Plan, as well as in the Celtic individual health business. Albeit at lower levels, the above items are anticipated to impact the financial results for the remainder of 2012, and the estimated impact is reflected in the revised guidance for 2012. The balance of Centene's products and markets continue to perform as expected. Centene currently estimates it will report a loss for the second quarter of 2012, but expects the Company to return to profitability in the third quarter of 2012. Higher than anticipated medical costs became evident at the end of the first week of June as part of the May closing process. For Kentucky, the increase in medical costs primarily resulted from the retroactive assignment of members and a significant volume of non-inpatient claims received in May for dates of service prior to May 2012. For Texas, Centene has experienced a significant increase in certain non-inpatient claims received for the Hidalgo service area. For Celtic, we continue to experience a high level of medical costs for our individual health policies.