Business briefs for July 11, 2002

Thursday, July 11, 2002 | 10:58 a.m.

Profit soars for North Las Vegas hospital owner

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -- Tenet Healthcare Corp. today said quarterly earnings more than doubled as the second-biggest U.S. hospital company treated more patients and raised prices for its medical services.

The company owns Lake Mead Hospital in North Las Vegas.

Fiscal fourth-quarter net income rose to $261 million, or 52 cents a share, in the quarter ended May 31, from $116 million, or 23 cents, a year earlier, Tenet said in a statement. Revenue increased 17 percent to $3.74 billion from $3.21 billion.

Tenet raised the prices it charges managed-care insurers and poured capital spending into profitable medical specialties such as cardiology and orthopedics that are in demand as the U.S. population ages.

"They beat the consensus earnings estimate, which in this climate is something extraordinary," said Uma Rajeshwar, who helps manage $16 billion for Glenmede Trust Co., which holds Tenet shares. "The fundamentals all looked good. Admissions increased by 1.8 percent."

Tenet had an expense of $60 million, or 12 cents, for the early retirement of debt. Without that cost, profit was $321 million, or 64 cents a share. On that basis, earnings beat the 61- cent average estimate of analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call.

Shares of Santa Barbara, Calif.-based Tenet rose 79 cents to $46.55 in late morning trading today.

Firm to beat modest expectations

ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Eastman Kodak Co., the world's largest photography company, today said it will report second-quarter net income of 97 cents a share because of a tax benefit and cost cuts. Sales fell for a sixth straight quarter.

Net income a year earlier was 12 cents a share. Excluding a tax gain related to the closure of a subsidiary and a writedown of assets, profit fell to 85 cents a share from $1.12, Kodak said. On that basis, profit beat the 60 cents to 70 cents the company had forecast. The shares rose as much as 8.9 percent.

Film sales are declining as the U.S. economic slowdown hurts the tourism industry, Kodak said. Chief Executive Daniel Carp is cutting 7,000 jobs, closing plants and reducing inventories. Second-quarter net income benefited from the restructuring begun last year, which hurt 2001's second-quarter results.

"Volumes of course weren't strong but savings and management are paying off," said Win Murray, who helps manage $170 billion at Columbia Management Group, which owns 2 million Kodak shares. "It would be hard to portray this as a poor quarter. But to be fair, expectations (for the company) are at historic lows."

Kodak plans to report full second-quarter results July 25.

First quarterly profit since 2000 reported

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Yahoo! Inc. reported its first quarterly profit since 2000 and beat Wall Street expectations Wednesday, saying its plan to reduce reliance on advertising is paying off.

In the three months ended June 30, Yahoo earned $21.4 million, or 3 cents a share -- a marked improvement from the same period last year, when Yahoo lost $48.5 million, or 9 cents a share. Revenue was $225.8 million for the quarter, up 24 percent from $182.2 million a year ago.

The results ended Yahoo's streak of six consecutive money-losing quarters, and Chief Executive Officer Terry Semel predicted "profitable growth through the remainder of the year."

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial/First Call were expecting to see a profit of 2 cents per share on revenue of $215.1 million.

Profit increases

BankWest Nevada Corp., parent company of BankWest of Nevada, reported a $1.6 million profit for the quarter that ended March 31, up 11 percent from the same quarter a year ago.

Assets were $673 million, up 18 percent. Loans increased 31 percent to more than $429 million, deposits increased 11 percent to $566 million and total capital increased by 11 percent to more than $37 million from the same quarter last year.