WellCare reports a first-quarter profit

WellCare Health Plans Inc. made a first-quarter profit although revenue dropped significantly from the same period in 2009.

The managed-care company headquartered in Tampa earned $6.4 million, or 15 cents a share, compared with a year-earlier loss of $36.9 million, or 89 cents per share.

Earnings beat a 14-cent profit estimate by analysts polled by Thompson Reuters. The company raised its earnings target for 2010 from $2 to $2.20 per share from $1.90 to $2.15.

Revenues fell 24 percent from a year earlier to $1.36 billion. WellCare had 2.2 million members at the end of March, 300,000 members fewer than at end of the first quarter of 2009.

The company withdrew from Medicare Advantage private fee-for-service plans at the close of last year. Membership in other plans dropped because of federally imposed sanctions on WellCare's marketing activities.

WellCare agreed last year to pay $80 million in restitution and civil penalties to avoid criminal charges over alleged fraudulent payment practices to Florida's Medicaid and Healthy Kids programs. The company earlier threw out top executives and restated three years of earnings reports.