Las Vegas insurer beats profit estimates

Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2000 | 11:13 a.m.

Sierra Health Services Inc. of Las Vegas on Monday reported a profit for its third quarter ending Sept. 30 of $2.7 million or 10 cents per share vs. $8.9 million or 33 cents in the year-ago quarter.

Despite the decline, Sierra said its financial turnaround is exceeding expectations. It beat the 8-cent average profit estimate of seven analysts surveyed by First Call.

Sierra stock fell 19 cents to $5.69 Monday, but was up 6 cents this morning to $5.75.

Sierra, which has been selling and closing unprofitable operations in Texas, said quarterly revenue jumped 17 percent to $377 million. Sierra also has been cutting expenses by laying off staff in Las Vegas, selling its airplane for $9.5 million and working on a sale/leaseback deal for its $115 million Las Vegas real estate portfolio.

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