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UPDATE 1-LifePoint Hospitals profit misses estimates

Fri Aug 7, 2009 8:54am EDT

Stocks

   

* Q2 EPS 54 cents vs Street view of 59 cents

* Board authorizes $100 mln stock repurchase

* Shares fall 8 percent

NEW YORK, Aug 7 (Reuters)- LifePoint Hospitals Inc (LPNT.O) posted second-quarter profit below Wall Street estimates on Friday as admissions fell, sending shares down more than 8 percent.

Net income fell to $26.3 million, or 49 cents per share, from $27.8 million, or 52 cents per share, a year ago.

Excluding discontinued operations, earnings of 54 cents were 5 cents below the average estimate of analysts, according to Reuters Estimates.

Revenue for the quarter rose 10.4 percent to $735.3 million, exceeding analyst estimates of about $720 million.

But the Brentwood, Tennessee-based company, which operates 47 hospitals, said admissions fell 0.5 percent.

The company projected full-year earnings in a range of $2.35 to $2.55 per share, raising the low end of its forecast by 10 cents.

LifePoint's board also authorized the company to buy back up to $100 million of company stock over the next 18 months.

LifePoint shares were down 8 percent to $25.70 in premarket trading from their Thursday close of $28.04 on the New York Stock Exchange. (Reporting by I-Ching Ng, editing by Derek Caney)



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