FLINT, Mich., May 9, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Diplomat Pharmacy, Inc. (NYSE: DPLO), the nation's largest independent specialty pharmacy, announced financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2016. All comparisons, unless otherwise noted, are to the quarter ended March 31, 2015.

First Quarter 2016 Highlights include:

• Revenue of $996 million, an increase of 59% or $371 million
  • 36% organic revenue growth
• Total prescriptions dispensed of 232,000, an increase of 20%
• Gross margin of 8.0% versus 6.6%
  • Gross profit per prescription dispensed of $332, an increase of $127 or 62%
• Adjusted EBITDA of $29.0 million, an increase of 160% or $17.9 million
  • Adjusted EBITDA margin of 2.9% versus 1.8%
• Adjusted EPS of $0.23 versus $0.09

Phil Hagerman, Chairman and CEO of Diplomat, commented "I'm extremely pleased with our strong revenue and EBITDA growth in the first quarter. As we've outlined previously, Diplomat continues to benefit from new drug approvals and our unparalleled position relative to the ever increasing use of limited distribution panels. Additionally, our recently announced strategic acquisition of TNH Advanced Specialty Pharmacy aligns with our goals of expanding our opportunities geographically and deepening our therapeutic expertise. We anticipate this acquisition to be accretive to our adjusted EBITDA and are therefore raising our 2016 outlook."

First Quarter Financial Summary:

Revenue for the first quarter of 2016 was $996 million, compared to $625 million in the first quarter of 2015, an increase of $371 million or 59%. The increase was primarily the result of organic growth, including approximately $122 million from increased volume and a richer mix of those drugs that existed a year ago, approximately $62 million from the impact of manufacturer price increases, and approximately $42 million of revenue from drugs that were new in the past year. The remaining increase was the result of approximately $145 million from our acquisitions.

Gross profit in the first quarter of 2016 was $79.2 million, compared to $41.1 million in the first quarter of 2015, and generated gross margin of 8.0% compared to 6.6%. The gross margin improvement in the quarter was primarily due to drug mix changes, including the impact of recent acquisitions, as well as the greater impact of manufacturer price increases and increased pharma dollars.

Selling, general, and administrative expenses ("SG&A") for the first quarter of 2016 were $54.2 million, an increase of $17.9 million, compared to $36.3 million in the first quarter of 2015. Of this increase, $14.4 million relates to employee cost, including employee cost from our acquired entities. The increased employee expense was primarily attributable to the 19% increase in dispensed and serviced prescription volume, combined with the increased clinical and administrative complexity associated with our mix of both acquired and organic business. We also experienced a $7.0 million increase in amortization expense from definite-lived intangible assets associated with our acquisitions. The remaining increase was in all other SG&A to support our growth, including consulting fees, software licenses, travel, freight, and other miscellaneous expenses. These increases were partially offset by a $9.4 million decrease in the change in fair value of contingent consideration associated with our acquisitions. As a percentage of revenue, SG&A, excluding acquisition-related amortization and change in contingent consideration, accounted for 5.5% of total revenues for each of the three month periods ended March 31, 2016 and 2015. This is primarily attributable to the increased operating complexity associated with both our acquisitions and new drugs, partially offset by operating efficiencies.

Adjusted EBITDA for the first quarter of 2016 was $29.0 million versus $11.2 million in the first quarter of 2015, an increase of 160%.

Net income attributable to Diplomat for the first quarter of 2016 was $15.4 million, or $0.24 per common share, compared to $2.9 million, or $0.06 per common share for the first quarter of 2015. On a diluted basis, net income attributable to Diplomat was $0.23 per common share in the first quarter of 2016, compared to $0.05 per common share in the prior year period. Diluted non-GAAP adjusted earnings per share ("Adjusted EPS") was $0.23 in the first quarter of this year compared to $0.09 in the first quarter of 2015. Compared to the year ago period, our weighted average common shares outstanding in the first quarter of 2016 were significantly higher, impacted by our follow-on equity offering, the use of shares as partial consideration for our acquisitions, and stock option exercises.

2016 Financial Outlook

For the full-year 2016, we provide financial guidance as follows:

• Revenue between $4.5 and $4.9 billion; including $240 to $260 million from an assumed six month contribution from TNH Advanced Specialty Pharmacy ("TNH")
• Adjusted EBITDA between $121 and $129 million; including $5 to $6 million from an assumed six month contribution from TNH
• Adjusted EPS between $0.88 and $0.95; including $0.04 to $0.06 from an assumed six month contribution from TNH

Our Adjusted EPS expectations assume approximately 68,000,000 weighted average common shares outstanding on a diluted basis for full year 2016, which could differ materially.

Earnings Conference Call Information

As previously announced, the Company will hold a conference call to discuss its first quarter 2016 performance this evening, May 9, 2016 at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Shareholders and interested participants may listen to a live broadcast of the conference call by dialing 877-201-0168 or 647-788-4901 for international callers and referencing participant code 92076130 approximately 15 minutes prior to the call. A live webcast and transcript of the conference call will be available on the investor relations section of the Company's website for approximately 90 days.

About Diplomat

Diplomat Pharmacy, Inc. (NYSE: DPLO) serves patients and physicians in all 50 states. Headquartered in Flint, Michigan, the Company focuses on medication management programs for people with complex chronic diseases, including oncology, immunology, hepatitis, multiple sclerosis, specialized infusion therapy and many other serious and/or long-term conditions. Diplomat opened its doors in 1975 as a neighborhood pharmacy with one essential tenet: "Take good care of patients, and the rest falls into place." Today, that tradition continues – always focused on improving patient care and clinical adherence. For more information, visit www.diplomat.is. Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn and like us on Facebook.

Non-GAAP Information

Adjusted EPS adds back, net of income taxes, the impact of all merger and acquisition related expenses, including amortization of intangible assets, the change in fair value of contingent consideration related to our acquisitions, as well as transaction-related costs. We exclude merger and acquisition related expenses from Adjusted EPS because we believe the amount of such expenses in any specific period may not directly correlate to the underlying performance of our business operations and such expenses can vary significantly between periods as a result of new acquisitions, full amortization of previously acquired intangible assets or ultimate realization of contingent consideration. Investors should note that acquisitions, once consummated, contribute to revenue in the periods presented as well as future periods and should also note that amortization and contingent consideration expenses will recur in future periods. A reconciliation of Adjusted EPS, a non-GAAP measure, to EPS as prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States ("GAAP") can be found in the appendix.

We define Adjusted EBITDA as net income (loss) before interest expense, income taxes, depreciation and amortization, share-based compensation, restructuring and impairment charges, equity loss and impairment of non-consolidated entities, and certain other items that we do not consider indicative of our ongoing operating performance (which are itemized below in the reconciliation to net income). Adjusted EBITDA is not in accordance with, or an alternative to, GAAP. In addition, this non‑GAAP measure is not based on any comprehensive set of accounting rules or principles. You should be aware that in the future we may incur expenses that are the same as or similar to some of the adjustments in the presentation, and we do not infer that our future results will be unaffected by unusual or non-recurring items.

We consider Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EPS to be supplemental measures of our operating performance. We present Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EPS because they are used by our Board of Directors and management to evaluate our operating performance. They are also used as a factor in determining incentive compensation, for budgetary planning and forecasting overall financial and operational expectations, for identifying underlying trends and for evaluating the effectiveness of our business strategies. Further, we believe they assist us, as well as investors, in comparing performance from period to period on a consistent basis. Other companies in our industry may calculate Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EPS differently than we do and these calculations may not be comparable to our Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EPS metrics. A reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA, a non-GAAP measure, to net income can be found in the appendix.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements give current expectations or forecasts of future events or our future financial or operating performance, and include Diplomat's expectations regarding revenues, Adjusted EBITDA, net income (loss), Adjusted EPS, market share, the performance of acquisitions and growth strategies. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are based on management's good-faith belief and reasonable judgment based on current information, and these statements are qualified by important risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control, that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those forecasted or indicated by such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include: our ability to adapt to changes or trends within the specialty pharmacy industry; significant and increasing pricing pressure from third-party payors; our relationships with key pharmaceutical manufacturers; bad publicity about, or market withdrawal of, specialty drugs we dispense; a significant increase in competition from a variety of companies in the health care industry; our ability to expand the number of specialty drugs we dispense and related services; maintaining existing patients; revenue concentration of the top specialty drugs we dispense; our ability to maintain relationships with a specified wholesaler and pharmaceutical manufacturer; increasing consolidation in the healthcare industry; managing our growth effectively; limited experience with acquisitions and our ability to recognize the expected benefits therefrom on a timely basis or at all; and the additional factors set forth in "Risk Factors" in Diplomat's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015 and in subsequent reports filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Except as may be required by any applicable laws, Diplomat assumes no obligation to publicly update such forward-looking statements, which are made as of the date hereof or the earlier date specified herein, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.

INVESTOR CONTACT:Bob East, Westwicke Partners 443-213-0500 | [email protected]

Adjusted EBITDA

The table below presents a reconciliation of net income attributable to Diplomat Pharmacy, Inc. to Adjusted EBITDA for the periods indicated:

Adjusted EPS (diluted)

Below is a reconciliation of the Company's net income attributable to Diplomat Pharmacy, Inc. per diluted common share to Adjusted EPS for the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015.

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SOURCE Diplomat Pharmacy, Inc.