DaVita HealthCare Partners' first-quarter performance swung to a net loss of $111 million from a year ago, when the kidney care and medical group operator posted net income of $183.3 million.
The first quarter results include a tentative $495 million settlement in a civil suit brought in 2009 alleging DaVita wasted medication and then billed Medicare for it. The case was unsealed in 2011. DaVita, based in Denver, said settlement negotiations were ongoing.
The company reported net revenue of $3.3 billion for the quarter, an increase of 10% compared with $3 billion the same three months a year ago.
The operating expenses, including the $495 million for the settlement agreement in principal, totaled $3.4 billion for the quarter, up 29% from the first quarter expenses of $2.6 billion during the first quarter of 2014.
That left the company with an operating loss of $64 million for the quarter compared with the $441 million operating gain for the three months in 2014.
DaVita's kidney-care division ended the first quarter with a net loss of $124 million on revenue of $2.4 billion. That's compared with net income of $387 million on revenue of $2.2 billion the prior year's first quarter.
The medical group division finished the first three months of the year with net income of $60 million and revenue of $928 million. That's up from net income of $54 million on revenue of $841 million a year ago.
