Thursday, August 4, 2011

Community Health beats earnings forecast, makes deal

Community Health Systems reported second-quarter earnings that beat analysts’ expectations and announced a deal to acquire a hospital in Tomball, Texas.

Income from continuing operations increased to $92.9 million, or 81 cents a share, for the three months that ended June 30, beating the 78 cents a share average estimate of analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters.

A year earlier, Franklin-based Community Health earned $88.4 million, or 76 cents, a share.

Net operating revenues increased 11.5 percent to $3.4 billion.

For the full 2011 year, the hospital company expects income from continuing operations of $3.20 to $3.35 a share vs. analysts’ expectations of $3.23.

Acquiring 358-bed Tomball Regional Medical Center would give Community Health its 19th affiliated hospital in Texas. The deal requires regulatory approvals.