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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowHill-Rom Holdings Inc. topped analysts’ lowered profit expectations in its second quarter even as hospital-spending cuts shrank its revenue by 10 percent, the company announced late yesterday.
The Batesville-based maker of hospital equipment reported profit of $16.6 million, or 27 cents per share, in the quarter ended March 31. Those numbers excluded a bevy of extraordinary charges and marked a 2-percent improvement over the same quarter a year ago, when Hill-Rom earned $16.2 million, or 26 cents per share.
Analysts were expecting earnings of 15 cents per share, according to a survey by Thomson Reuters.
Revenue for the quarter fell 10 percent, to $337 million, compared to the same quarter a year ago.
Hill-Rom took a $470 million accounting charge because the declines in its market capitalization forced it to reduce the value of its goodwill assets from previous acquisitions. The company also recorded nearly $20 million more in special charges due to acquisitions, layoffs and other restructuring costs.
Including those charges, the company lost a whopping $465.8 million in the quarter, or $7.44 per share.
The company made several efforts to reduce expenses during the quarter, including cutting positions and giving employees early retirement, which eliminated about 300 jobs. Late last year, the company cut 160 jobs.
Hill-Rom slightly narrowed its profit forecast for the year. It now expects to earn from 85 cents per share to $1.15 cents per share.
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