Hospital Corp. of America reported earnings of...

Hospital Corp. of America reported earnings of $76.9 million, or 50 cents a share, in its first quarter as a reincarnated public company.

HCA, which owns and operates 74 medical-surgical hospitals and 50 psychiatric hospitals in the United States, said its earnings for the three months ended March 31 rose 75.2% from its profit of $43.9 million a year earlier, when it was a private company. Sales edged up 5.6% to $1.33 billion, compared to $1.26 billion in the first quarter of 1991.