DaVita beats quarterly profit on steady demand for dialysis services

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(Reuters) -DaVita beat Wall Street estimates for second-quarter profit on Tuesday, driven by demand for its kidney dialysis services.

The company provides kidney care services for patients with chronic kidney failure through a network of outpatient clinics and at-home dialysis across the United States.

DaVita, which had been grappling with rising patient care and operating costs, has also experienced disruptions from hurricanes and a ransomware attack in April, which affected some of its operations.

The company said its higher IT expenses and costs tied to the cybersecurity incident led to a 10% rise in general and administrative costs from the first quarter.

Earlier in the day, DaVita’s peer Fresenius Medical Care missed quarterly profit expectations after a severe flu season in the U.S. led to higher mortality among patients and a greater number of missed treatments earlier this year.

However, DaVita reported quarterly revenue of $3.38 billion, compared to analysts’ estimates of $3.36 billion, according to LSEG data.

The company said it benefited from seasonal factors, including more patients meeting their co-insurance and deductibles, meaning insurance kicked in to cover treatment costs.

On an adjusted basis, DaVita reported a second-quarter profit of $2.95 per share for the quarter, above analysts’ estimates of $2.77 per share.

(Reporting by Christy Santhosh in Bengaluru)