Tenet Results Top Estimates

(RTTNews) - Hospital operator Tenet Healthcare Corp. (THC) said Monday after the markets closed that its second quarter loss narrowed from last year, as revenue surged amid strong growth in patient volumes.

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

"I am very pleased with Tenet's performance in the second quarter. All growth and profitability metrics exceeded our expectations," said Trevor Fetter, Tenet's president and chief executive officer. Tenet grew at near-record rates in commercial patient volumes, inpatient admissions, outpatient visits, surgeries and emergency department visits."

Tenet shares are currently gaining 1.13% in after hours trading after closing the day's regular trading session at $53.30, up 96 cents or 1.83%. The shars trade in a 52-week range of $36.87 to $55.34.

For the second quarter ended June 30, 2014, the Dallas, Texas-based company reported a net loss of $26 million or $0.27 per share, compared to a net loss of $50 million or $0.49 per share for the year-ago quarter.

Loss from continuing operations for the second quarter was $10 million or $0.11 per share, compared to a loss from continuing operations of $53 million or $0.52 per share in the prior year quarter.

Excluding items, adjusted income from continuing operations for the second quarter was $17 million or $0.17 per share, compared to $69 million or $0.66 per share in the second quarter of last year.

On average, 17 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to earn $0.01 per share for the second quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Net operating revenue for the second quarter rose 66.9% to $4.04 billion from $2.42 billion in the same quarter last year. Fifteen analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $3.94 billion for the second quarter.

Looking forward, the company forecast third quarter earnings to range between a loss of $0.30 per share and profit of $0.21 per share. Analysts currently expect the company to earn $0.49 per share for the third quarter.

The company raised its 2014 adjusted EBITDA outlook to a range $1.85 billion to $1.95 billion from its prior outlook of $1.8 billion to $1.9 billion.