Oct 29 (Reuters) - Centene ( CNC ) on Wednesday reported

a surprise profit for the third quarter, helped by a low tax

rate.

On an adjusted basis, the company reported a profit of 50

cents per share, compared with analysts' estimates of a loss of

14 cents, as per data compiled by LSEG.

(Reporting by Sneha S K and Sriparna Roy in Bengaluru; Editing

by Shinjini Ganguli)