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Tenet Healthcare Corp.'s (THC) fourth-quarter loss narrowed as the hospital operator saw improved results amid higher prices.

The company also projected a 2009 loss bigger than expectations, 9 cents to 18 cents a share compared with analysts' average view of 4 cents, according to Thomson Reuters. Revenue is seen rising to $9 billion to $9.2 billion, in line with estimates, with admissions growth of as much as 1%. Last year's admissions increase was 1.2%.

Tenet, which has been struggling to gain its footing after settling government probes in 2006 over past pricing plans, has changed management, shed hospitals and made improvements that earned it good-quality ratings from the Department of Health and Human Services. Still, it faces high supply costs, delays in key asset sales and high debt levels.

Tenet posted a net loss of $33 million, or 7 cents a share, compared with a year-earlier net loss of $75 million, or 16 cents a share. The latest quarter included a $40 million write-down from the sale two weeks ago of facilities at the University of Southern California.

Revenue increased 5.7% to $2.2 billion.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected a loss of 2 cents a share on revenue of $2.21 billion.

Hospitals have struggled for years with tepid volumes of commercially insured patients and large numbers of uninsured patients who can't pay their medical bills. Now, the credit crisis has prompted many hospitals to delay capital spending and the recession threatens to further erode business.

Same-hospital adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, the industry benchmark used to track the financial performance of those hospitals under a company's wing for more than a year, climbed 27%.

Same-hospital admissions edged down 0.2%, as more-profitable commercial managed-care admissions fell 3% and government managed-care admissions increased 10.1%. But inpatient revenue per admission increased 3.6%, with the increase for outpatients at 7%.

The company's bad debt expense increased 23%, hurt in part by a decline in its self-pay collection rate. There is concern that the weak economy, including job losses in particular, will lead to more uninsured patients, uncompensated care and bad debt.

Shares were up 12.2% at $1.10 a share premarket. The stock has lost more than three-quarters of its value since August.

-By Shirleen Dorman, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-2310; shirleen.dorman@dowjones.com