Tenet Healthcare Posts Loss

(RTTNews) - Hospital operator Tenet Healthcare Corp. (THC) said Monday after the markets closed that it swung to a fourth quarter loss, as a sharp jump in operating expenses more than offset a 66.7% increase in revenue.

However, the company's quarterly earnings per share, excluding items, came in above analysts' expectations as did its quarterly revenue.

Tenet shares are currently losing 0.68% in after hours trading after closing the day's regular trading session at $48.33, up $1.46 or 3.12%. The shares trade in a 52-week range of $36.29 to $49.47.

For the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2013, the company reported a net loss of $24 million or $0.24 per share, compared to net income of $49 million or $0.45 per share for the year-ago quarter.

Loss from continuing operations for the fourth quarter was $17 million or $0.17 per share, compared to income from continuing operations of $57 million or $0.52 per share in the prior year quarter.

Excluding items, adjusted income from continuing operations for the fourth quarter was $43 million or $0.43 per share, compared to $65 million or $0.60 per share in the fourth quarter of last year.

On average, 19 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to earn $0.37 per share for the fourth quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Net operating revenues for the fourth quarter rose 66.7% to $3.89 billion from $2.33 billion in the same quarter last year. Fifteen analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $3.87 billion for the fourth quarter.

Adjusted admissions declined 0.5% in the fourth quarter on a same-hospital basis, including a 2.3% decline in same-hospital inpatient admissions. Same-hospital surgeries grew by 21.5% and increased 13.5% on a total-hospital pro forma basis.

Tenet repurchased about 2.390 million shares for $100 million in the fourth quarter and completed its $500 million stock buyback program.

Tenet completed its acquisition of Vanguard Health Systems in a $4.3 billion deal on October 1 to further strengthen its competitive position for future growth.

Looking forward to full year 2014, the company forecasts net operating revenues of $15.70 billion to $16.00 billion and earnings of $0.49 to $1.67 per share. Analysts currently expect the company to earn $2.71 per share on revenue of $16.16 billion for the full year 2014.