DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
HealthSouth Corp. (HLS) swung to a fourth-quarter profit on
sharply lower costs and a $121.3 million gain from settling with
UBS AG's (UBS) securities arm over an accounting scandal at the
rehabilitation-center operator.
The company also projected 2009 earnings growing to 85 cents to
90 cents a share; analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters on average
projected 84 cents.
HealthSouth, which had struggled for years to overcome the
accounting woes, got preliminary court approval last month for the
settlement involving UBS's role in the matter. HealthSouth returned
to profitability in 2007, stemming years of losses tied to the
accounting woes and has since sold several divisions as it looks to
turn around its operations.
For the fourth quarter, HealthSouth reported net income of
$181.9 million, or $1.81 a share, compared with a year-earlier net
loss of $45.9 million, or 67 cents a share. Excluding items such as
the UBS gain, earnings from continuing operations were 24 cents,
compared with a prior-year 1-cent loss.
Revenue rose 6.7% to $463.8 million as same-location discharges
climbed 9.7%.
Analysts expected earnings excluding items of 13 cents on $465
million in revenue.
HealthSouth, whose shares closed at $9.73 and didn't trade
after-hours, plans to continuing paring debt this year. Leverage
fell $228 million in 2008 to about $1.8 billion.
-By Melissa Korn and Kevin Kingsbury, Dow Jones Newswires;
201-938-5400; melissa.korn@dowjones.com