Kindred profits soar despite recession
The Courier-journal had an interesting article showing how profitable Kindred nursing home chain has been this year and how they rely on "managing" labor costs to insure profitability. This euphemism means they are understaffed.
Kindred Healthcare's profits rose 55 percent in the first quarter of the year as the company offset a slight drop in patients by managing costs more closely, especially labor. Net income was $22.8 million, or 58 cents per share, compared with $14.7 million, or 37 cents per share, a year earlier.
Income from continuing operations was 57 cents per share, compared with 42 cents per share in the first three months of 2008. The continuing-operations figure exceeded Wall Street analysts' average expectation by 13 cents per share and also topped Kindred's own previous forecast of 40 to 50 cents per share.
The Louisville long-term care company said it expects its full-year earnings to be $1.35 to $1.45 per share, the same amount it forecast in February. That means the company can absorb a proposed Medicare cut in nursing-home reimbursements without a drop in earnings.
Overall revenue for the January-March period was $1.08 billion, up about 3 percent. Kindred shares rose 9 percent yesterday, adding $1.27 to close at $14.91. The latest earnings were released last night after the market closed.
See full report here.
