Private hospital operator Wakefield Health reported lower half year revenue and earnings as trading conditions remained subdued.A decline in the volume of private patients for high-value surgery and interventional procedures had persisted, the company sai
Private hospital operator Wakefield Health reported lower half year revenue and earnings as trading conditions remained subdued.
A decline in the volume of private patients for high-value surgery and interventional procedures had persisted, the company said today.
ACC volumes continued to be affected by changes in ACC's approach to claims approval, while district health board contracting volumes remained below levels of a year earlier and well below levels in the 2009 financial year.
Wakefield, which operates two private hospitals in the Wellington region and one in Hastings, said earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation were down 13.3 percent from a year earlier to $7.7m.
Revenue fell 2.3 percent to 39.2m, while adjusted net profit fell 21.3 percent to $2.8m.
Unadjusted, there was a bottom line loss of $1.9m, compared to a profit of $3.6m a year earlier. That result included one-off non cash tax charge, and a non cash revaluation of interest rate swaps.
A fully imputed interim dividend of 7c per share is being paid, compared to 8cps a year earlier.
The company said it remained confident that the private sector would have an increasing role to play in meeting future healthcare needs.
