NEW YORK (AP) -- Gentiva Health Services Inc. said Tuesday its profit dropped 71 percent in the fourth quarter, and said it will need to modify its credit agreements because of increased debt.
The company's shares fell 16 cents, or 2.1 percent, to close Tuesday at $7.53.
Gentiva said its quarterly profit shrank to $4.6 million, or 15 cents per share, from $15.8 million, or 53 cents per share, as it took a variety of one-time charges to cut costs and for restructuring, legal settlements and acquisitions. Excluding one-time items, the company said it earned 37 cents per share. Its revenue fell 2 percent to $449.2 million.
The results topped analysts' average forecast for the Atlanta company to report an adjusted profit of 32 cents per share on revenue of $443.4 million, according to FactSet.
Gentiva said its home health revenue fell 5 percent to $248.9 million and hospice revenue grew 3 percent to $200.3 million.
Gentiva said it altered its credit agreement during the fourth quarter, and because of those changes and cuts to Medicare reimbursement payments, it expects to be out of compliance with its financial covenants. The company said it is negotiating with its lead bank for more flexibility.
During the fourth quarter Gentiva closed 34 locations, including 25 in home health, and sold 9 other home health locations. It took $12.4 million in charges related to those moves. The company said it has agreed to sell 8 more home health branches and two hospice branches since the quarter ended.
There are no comments yet