Tenet’s Profit Exceeds Latest Upbeat Forecast

Tenet HealthCare Corp., the No. 2 U.S. hospital operator, said fiscal third-quarter profit surged 41% to $288 million, or 86 cents a share, beating expectations, on rising admissions and higher revenue per patient.

The Santa Barbara-based company had said last month that it expected to “comfortably exceed” analysts’ average estimate of 81cents. Analysts then revised their forecast to 82 cents, according to Thomson Financial/First Call.

Tenet said it expected fiscal 2002 earnings of $3.20 a share and fourth-quarter profit of at least 90 cents, compared with analysts’ expectations of $3.13 and 87cents. It earned $2.30 for fiscal 2001 and 68 cents in that year’s fourth quarter.

Revenue rose 15% to $3.48 billion in the third quarter. Analysts said Tenet would have tougher comparisons for revenue growth ahead because Medicare increased reimbursement levels in April 2001.

Shares of Tenet, which have gained 54% in the last year, rose 89 cents, or 1.3%, to $68.25, after touching a record $68.60 on the New York Stock Exchange.