Nov. 5, 2009 (PR Newswire) --

DENVER, Nov. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Air Methods Corporation (Nasdaq: AIRM) reported results for the quarter ended September 30, 2009. Revenue increased 3% to $137.6 million from $133.8 million in the year-ago quarter. For the nine-month period, revenue increased 3% to $390.4 million, up from $379.9 million in the prior-year nine-month period. The prior-year quarter and nine-month period included $7.3 million in revenue generated from hurricane response activities, as compared with no revenue from such activities during the current-year periods. Excluding revenue generated from hurricane response activities in the prior-year periods, revenue increased 9% and 5% for the quarter and nine-month period ended September 30, 2009, respectively.

For the quarter, net income increased 51% to $12.6 million, or $1.01 per diluted share, as compared with prior-year quarter net income of $8.4 million, or $0.67 per diluted share. Net income for the nine-month period increased 69% to $26.2 million, or $2.12 per diluted share, compared to $15.5 million, or $1.23 per diluted share, for the prior-year period. The current-year and prior-year quarters included pre-tax net gains on disposition of assets of $0.2 million and $1.1 million, respectively.

Third Quarter Highlights

Community-Based Services: Revenue from Community-Based Services decreased 3% to $80.2 million from $82.6 million, while segment net income increased 4% to $18.3 million during the third quarter, as compared with segment net income of $17.5 million in the prior-year quarter. The decrease in revenue is entirely attributed to the absence of hurricane response revenue in the current-year quarter. Excluding the hurricane response revenue generated in the prior-year quarter, Community-Based Services revenue increased 7%. Total community-based patient transports increased slightly to 10,752 in the current-year quarter from 10,690 in the prior-year quarter. Community-based patient transports for bases open greater than one year (Same-Base Transports) decreased 2% or 171 transports, as compared with the prior-year quarter. Weather cancellations for these same-base locations increased by 220 compared with the prior-year quarter.

The increase in segment net income is attributed to improved net revenue per community-based transport, combined with lower maintenance and fuel expenditures. Net revenue per community-based transport increased 7% to $7,509, compared with $7,047 in the prior-year quarter. Divisional maintenance expense decreased by $1.6 million over the prior-year quarter, reflecting an 18% decrease in cost per flight hour. In addition, fuel expense decreased by $2.1 million over the prior-year quarter, reflecting a 41% decrease per hour flown. The improvement in net revenue per community-based transport is attributed to recent price increases, while reduction in maintenance expenditures is attributed to fleet rejuvenation activities and converting several twin-engine helicopters to more efficient single-engine aircraft. Decrease in fuel expense reflects reduced cost per gallon.

Hospital-Based Services: Revenue from Hospital-Based Services increased by 6% to $51.6 million from $48.6 million, while segment net income increased to $5.3 million in the current-year quarter from $0.4 million during the prior-year third quarter. The increase in segment net income is primarily attributed to decreased maintenance expenses and improved pricing from renewed contracts. Maintenance expense for the quarter decreased by $4.3 million, reflecting a 21% decrease in cost per flight hour. This reduction in expense is attributed to the same factors discussed above within the Community-Based Services segment.