Stock market’s wild December hits CHI, Dignity; CHS making gains
Results are for last three months of 2018, unless otherwise indicated.
Community Health Systems | Franklin, Tenn. THE NUMBERS
$3.45 billion Q4 operating revenue, up 12.9%
$328 million Losses, compared with $2.01 billion in 2017
$419 million Q4 adjusted EBITDA, vs. $409 million in 2017
0.5% Drop in same-facility admissions
0.1% Increase in adjusted admissions
TAKEAWAY After some bumpy financial results, CHS officials said they are optimistic that more progress is coming. CEO Wayne Smith said that 2019 holds “a number of opportunities … to drive incremental growth, and achieve additional progress as we further strengthen our core portfolio and reduce our debt.” CHS completed the sale of 11 hospitals and closed three others in 2018.
CVS Health | Woonsocket, R.I. THE NUMBERS
$54.4 billion Q4 2018 revenue, up 12.5%
$194.6 billion Total 2018 revenue, up 5.3%
$421 million Q4 2018 net loss
$596 million Total 2018 net loss
$34.9 billion Q4 2018 pharmacy services revenue, up 2.2%
$134 billion Total 2018 pharmacy services revenue, up 2.7%
TAKEAWAY CVS Health’s bottom line plummeted in the fourth quarter and full year 2018 compared with the same periods in 2017 because of problems with its long-term care business and expenses related to the Aetna takeover, which closed at the end of November. Reporting as a stand-alone business, Aetna’s revenue hit $5.5 billion and operating income stood at $276 million from Nov. 28 to year-end. CVS CEO Larry Merlo said the combined company is on track to achieve $300 million to $350 million of “net synergies” in 2019 and $750 million in 2020.
Catholic Health Initiatives | Englewood, Colo. THE NUMBERS
$362.8 million Non-operating loss, compared with $217.1 million gain in 2017
$36.6 million Operating loss
$15.3 million Increase in total revenue, up 0.4%
$113.2 million Increase in same-facility revenue, up 3%
TAKEAWAY CHI was hit by the sharp year-end downturn in the stock market in 2018, posting a bottom-line loss of $424.3 million, a $627 million swing from the year-earlier quarterly profit of $203.6 million. A CHI spokesman said the company has since recovered from the stock market’s fall.
Dignity Health | San Francisco
(Financial results for six months ended Dec. 31, 2018)
THE NUMBERS
$6.7 billion Revenue, down 7%
$13 million Operating income, down 96%
194,107 Admissions, up from 193,644
1.4 million Adjusted patient days, up 2.5%
TAKEAWAY Weak investment returns contributed to Dignity’s $198 million loss in the six months ended Dec 31. The system lost $179 million on investments during that period, compared with a $287 million gain in the prior-year period. Dignity’s overall profit margin fell to negative 3% in latter half of 2018, down from 8.4% during the same period in 2017.
Catholic Health Initiatives and Dignity Health officially became CommonSpirit Health Feb. 1. The organizations will report their individual financial results until their debt can be combined.