Tenet Healthcare saw its revenue decline year over year in the first quarter of 2019, and the Dallas-based company ended the period with a net loss.
Tenet ended the first quarter of 2019 with revenues of $4.5 billion, down from $4.7 billion in the same period a year earlier. The company said the decline was largely due to hospital divestitures.
Net patient service revenue climbed 1.9 percent on a same-hospital basis from the first quarter of 2018 to the same period of 2019. When adjusted for outpatient activity, same-hospital admissions increased 0.6 percent year over year in the first quarter of 2019. Tenet said a decline in flu cases dampened admissions in the first quarter of this year.
Excluding the divestiture of London-based Aspen Healthcare, adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization in Tenet's ambulatory segment was $177 million in the first quarter of 2019, up 12 percent year over year.
After factoring in operating expenses and one-time costs, including a $47 million pre-tax loss from the early extinguishment of debt, Tenet reported a net loss attributable to shareholders of $27 million in the first quarter of 2019. In the first quarter of 2018, Tenet posted net income of $98 million. A $13 million gain from the sale of Tenet's minority interests in four Texas hospitals and a $98 million gain from the sale of MacNeal Hospital in Berwyn, Ill., pushed the company's net income higher in the first quarter of last year.
"We had a solid start to the year, building on the many positive changes we made across the enterprise in 2018," Ronald A. Rittenmeyer, executive chairman and CEO of Tenet, said in an earnings release. "These changes include the continued addition of new leadership as well as an infusion of fresh thinking, which are helping to transform our approach to operations and overall enterprise culture."
Tenet reconfirmed its 2019 outlook for revenue, adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EPS.
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