Exhibit 12.1
Centene Corporation
Computation of ratio of earnings to fixed charges
($ in thousands)
| Year ended December 31, | |||||||||||||||
| 2004 |
2003 |
2002 |
2001 |
2000 | |||||||||||
| Earnings: |
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| Pre-tax earnings from continuing operations |
$ | 70,287 | $ | 51,893 | $ | 41,136 | $ | 22,026 | $ | 7,185 | |||||
| Addback: |
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| Fixed charges |
2,489 | 1,232 | 915 | 1,058 | 1,067 | ||||||||||
| Total earnings |
$ | 72,776 | $ | 53,125 | $ | 42,051 | $ | 23,084 | $ | 8,252 | |||||
| Fixed Charges: |
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| Interest expense |
$ | 680 | $ | 194 | $ | 45 | $ | 362 | $ | 611 | |||||
| Interest component of rental payments (1) |
1,809 | 1,038 | 870 | 696 | 456 | ||||||||||
| Total fixed charges |
$ | 2,489 | $ | 1,232 | $ | 915 | $ | 1,058 | $ | 1,067 | |||||
| Ratio of earnings to fixed charges |
29.24 | 43.12 | 45.96 | 21.82 | 7.73 | ||||||||||
| (1) | Estimated at 33% of rental expense as a reasonable approximation of the interest factor. |