(Reuters) - U.S. hospital operator LifePoint Health Inc reported profit below analysts’ expectations for the third quarter and cut its annual forecast for earnings and revenue, hurt by fewer patient admissions.
Brentwood, Tennessee-based LifePoint, which operates 72 hospitals, said its equivalent admissions fell 2.18 percent in the quarter ended Sept. 30.
Equivalent admissions include patients who stay overnight in the hospital as well as those treated on an outpatient basis.
Net income attributable to LifePoint fell to $27.5 million or 67 cents per share, from $39.5 million or 92 cents per share, a year earlier.
Excluding one-time items, the company earned 80 cents per share, missing the analysts’ average estimate of 96 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
LifePoint’s revenue fell 0.6 percent to $1.58 billion, falling short of analysts’ estimates of $1.60 billion.
The company lowered its full-year forecast for adjusted earnings to $3.48 to $3.78 per share from $3.92 to $4.20.
Its revenue forecast was slashed to $6.34 billion to $6.39 billion from $6.43 billion to $6.5 billion.
Reporting by Akankshita Mukhopadhyay in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza and Sai Sachin Ravikumar
