Nashville, Tenn.-based Ardent Health reported a net income of $43 million (2.9% margin) in the second quarter, up from $33 million (2.4% margin) in the same period last year, according to financial results published Aug. 15.
Second-quarter revenue increased 7.5% year over year to $1.47 billion while expenses grew by 6.7% to $1.39 billion.
"Our second quarter results were highlighted by strong top-line growth and margin expansion," President and CEO Marty Bonick said. "Looking ahead, we are well-positioned for continued growth with a strengthened balance sheet and capital structure from the successful completion of our IPO in July."
Ardent plans to expand in several markets by investing in acute care and ambulatory services and has identified a robust pipeline of ambulatory opportunities that it intends to pursue, including urgent care centers, ambulatory surgery centers, freestanding emergency rooms and physician clinics. In the second quarter, the health system added eight urgent care centers and is evaluating additional expansion opportunities for the second half of the year.
"We continue to see broad-based demand for healthcare across both inpatient and outpatient settings, while systemic labor cost pressures continue to abate and normalize," Mr. Bonick said. "This stability enables us to sharpen our strategic focus on growth and improving access to healthcare within our markets."
Ardent also intends to grow its network of employed providers. As of June 30, its affiliated provider network included 1,785 providers, an increase of 6.5% compared to June 30, 2023.
"We currently expect that continued volume growth in our markets, when combined with our strategic execution, should enable us to deliver sustained profitable growth through the end of the year," Mr. Bonick said. "To that end, we have introduced our full-year 2024 guidance, which reflects year-over-year growth in total revenue of approximately 6% to 9% and year-over-year growth in adjusted EBITDA of 32% to 38%."
After the completion of its initial public offering last month, Ardent has a liquidity of about $832 million, giving it significant capital resources to pursue acquisitions through its joint-venture model.
"We are actively evaluating a strong pipeline of potential acquisition opportunities that represent a strategic fit for our platform," Mr. Bonick said.
Click here for more details on Ardent's second-quarter results.