Net cash used in investing activities for the three months ended September 30, 2024 of $17.7 million decreased from the prior-year period primarily due to a decrease in internally developed software. Net cash used in financing activities for the three months ended September 30, 2024 of $88.1 million decreased from the prior-year period primarily driven by net proceeds from the sale of the company’s non-healthcare GPO operations of $553.3 million in the prior-year period and the use of $56.4 million for market repurchases of Class A common stock (“Common Stock”) in the current-year period under the company’s $1 billion share repurchase authorization announced in February 2024 (“Share Repurchase Authorization”). These uses of cash were partially offset by payments of $215.0 million on the revolving credit facility in the prior-year period. As of September 30, 2024, cash and cash equivalents were $87.0 million compared with $125.1 million as of June 30, 2024, and the company’s five-year, $1.0 billion revolving credit facility had no outstanding balance.
Free cash flow for the three months ended September 30, 2024 was $16.2 million compared with $12.3 million in the prior-year period. The increase was primarily due to the same factors that impacted operating cash flow and the decrease in purchases of property and equipment. These were partially offset by a full quarter of cash payments in the current-year period to OMNIA related to the sale of future revenue compared to a partial quarter in the prior-year period due to the timing of the sale of the non-healthcare GPO operations. Refer to “Premier’s Use and Definition of Non-GAAP Measures” below and the supplemental financial information at the end of this release for information on the company’s use of this and other non-GAAP financial measures and a reconciliation of reported GAAP results to non-GAAP results.
Return of Capital to Stockholders
In February 2024, the company announced that its Board of Directors (“Board”) approved the Share Repurchase Authorization and that it entered into the ASR. Under the ASR, in February 2024, the company received initial deliveries of an aggregate of 15.0 million shares of Common Stock. On July 11, 2024, as final settlement, the company received an additional 4.8 million shares of Common Stock, resulting in a total of 19.9 million shares repurchased under the ASR.
On August 20, 2024, the Board approved execution of another $200.0 million of repurchases under the Share Repurchase Authorization. As of September 30, 2024, the Company had repurchased 2.9 million shares of Common Stock for $58.0 million in market transactions in addition to the ASR repurchases.
During the first quarter of fiscal 2025, the company paid aggregate dividends of $21.3 million to holders of its Common Stock. On October 24, 2024, the Board declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.21 per share, payable on December 15, 2024 to stockholders of record on December 1, 2024.
Conference Call and Webcast
Premier will host a conference call to provide additional detail around the company’s performance and outlook today at 8:00 a.m. ET. The call will be webcast live from the company’s website and, along with the accompanying presentation, will be available at the following link: Premier Events. The webcast should be accessed 10 minutes prior to the conference call start time. A replay of the webcast will be available for one year following the conclusion of the live broadcast and will be accessible on the company’s website at https://investors.premierinc.com.
For those parties who do not have internet access, the conference call may be accessed by calling one of the below telephone numbers and asking to join the Premier, Inc. call:
| | | | | | |
| | Domestic participant dial-in number (toll-free): | | (833) 953-2438 | | |
| | International participant dial-in number: | | (412) 317-5767 | | |
About Premier, Inc.
Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ: PINC) is a leading healthcare improvement company, uniting an alliance of more than 4,350 U.S. hospitals and health systems and approximately 325,000 other providers and organizations to transform healthcare. With integrated data and analytics, collaboratives, supply chain solutions, consulting and other services, Premier enables better care and outcomes at a lower cost. Premier plays a critical role in the rapidly evolving healthcare industry, collaborating with members, suppliers and other stakeholders to co-develop long-term innovations that reinvent and improve the way care is delivered to patients nationwide. Please visit Premier’s news and investor sites on www.premierinc.com, as well as X, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram and Premier’s blog for more information about the company.
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