DOW JONES NEWSWIRES 
 

Tenet Healthcare Corp. (THC) again raised its 2009 earnings forecast as it reported stronger-than-expected interim results for this quarter.

Shares of the hospital operator rose 5.7% premarket to $5.76. The stock is up nearly fivefold in 2009, but remains down 16% from a year earlier.

Tenet now expects 2009 adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $900 million to $950 million. That compares with July's boosted outlook of $810 million to $875 million. The company also raised the low end of its revenue target by $100 million.

President and Chief Executive Trevor Fetter said Monday that in the past few months the hospital operator, which has been battling falling admissions, has seen better-than-expected trends in payer and patient mix, bad-debt expense and volume growth. Pricing remains consistent with prior views.

The latest forecast allows for potential deterioration in bad-debt expenses and business mix, the company said.

The hospital industry has been facing growing numbers of uninsured patients and unpaid patient bills as unemployment mounts.

Tenet's July forecast boost was partly on solid cost controls. The company has been trying to turn itself around following years of financial and legal trouble, cutting costs and conducting debt exchanges.

The company on Monday said admissions in the seasonally weak period rose 0.2% from July 1 to Sept. 8, with paying admissions flat, commercial managed-care admissions off 4.1% and charity and uninsured admission up 3.5%. Same-hospital outpatient visits rose 3.8% from July 1 to Aug. 31, with paying outpatient visits and commercial-managed care visits up 4.4% and 0.8%, respectively. Charity and uninsured visits fell 1%.

-By Tess Stynes, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2481; tess.stynes@dowjones.com