Oct 29 (Reuters) - DaVita ( DVA ) missed Wall Street
estimates for third-quarter profit on Wednesday, as the kidney
dialysis provider grappled with rising patient care costs and
declining treatment volumes.
The Colorado-based company, which offers dialysis services
through outpatient clinics and at-home care across the United
States, said average daily U.S. dialysis treatments fell 0.5%
from the previous quarter to 91,680. Compared with a year
earlier, normalized non-acquired treatment growth declined 0.6%.
Patient care costs per treatment rose nearly 6%
year-over-year to $271.23 for the nine-month period, driven by
pharmaceutical and compensation costs.
General and administrative expenses also rose to $322
million in the quarter, up $10 million from the prior quarter,
primarily due to IT-related costs.
DaVita ( DVA ) is still dealing with the fallout from a ransomware
attack in April that disrupted parts of its operations and
exposed the personal data of 2.7 million people.
The company incurred $11.7 million in costs during the
quarter to remediate the incident and restore systems, it said.
For the quarter ended September 30, DaVita ( DVA ) reported adjusted
profit of $2.51 per share, below analysts' average estimate of
$3.23, according to LSEG data.
Revenue came in at $3.42 billion, just shy of expectations
of $3.43 billion.
The company raised the lower end of its full-year profit
forecast. The company now expects 2025 adjusted per-share profit
between $10.35 and $11.15, compared with its previous
expectation of $10.20 to $11.30.
Shares of the company were down about 2% in extended
trading.
(Reporting by Kamal Choudhury in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil
D'Silva)