Kindred Healthcare stock tanks on big third-quarter loss - WDRB 41 Louisville News

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) --  Louisville-based Kindred Healthcare’s stock was down 33 percent on Tuesday after the company reported a loss of $686 million in the most recent quarter and said it would retreat from one of its lines of business.

Kindred said it plans to no longer own or operate skilled nursing facilities, a move aimed at saving up to $220 million in annual costs including rent, capital expenses and “divisional and corporate overhead.”

“Our strategic decision to exit the skilled nursing facility business as an owner and operator is the final step in a process that began years ago when Kindred operated approximately 300 skilled nursing facilities,” Kindred CEO Benjamin Breier said in a press release.

The release does not say how many skilled nursing facilities Kindred currently operates, but the company had 90 “nursing centers” in 18 states as of its latest annual report filed in February.

Breier said in the release that the exit from skilled nursing will improve Kindred’s cash flow and debt profile, and the company is optimistic about its remaining lines of the business.

Following the move, about half of the company’s earnings will come from Kindred at Home, its home health, hospice and community care provider; a quarter from Kindred’s long-term acute care hospitals and a quarter from its rehabilitation services business, including inpatient rehab facilities, Breier said.

Kindred’s $686 million loss in the July-September period was significantly worse than the $14.6 million loss it reported for the same period in 2015.

The company posted revenue of $1.8 billion, up about 2 percent from a year earlier.

Kindred also lowered its outlook for its full-year 2016 results, citing “significant headwinds facing the skilled nursing facility business” and “labor cost challenges” affecting the healthcare industry as a whole.

One of three Fortune 500 companies headquartered in Louisville, Kindred is in the midst of expanding its downtown campus on S. Fourth Street with a new building. The company has previously said it would increase headquarter employment by about 500 over several years.

Kindred spokeswoman Susan Moss said in a statement Tuesday that the new building remains on schedule and will not be affected by the company's change in strategy.

Meanwhile, it's "too soon to say" how many Louisville-based employees within Kindred's Nursing Center Division will be affected by the move, which will not be completed until next year, she said.

"Upon the completion, we will make all efforts to move affected employees to available open positions for which they are qualified," Moss said.

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