Germany-based kidney-care provider Fresenius Medical Care reported a slightly higher operating margin in its newest quarterly financial report released Thursday.
The company's operating income margin was 14.5% for the three months ended Sept. 30, up from 14.3% over the previous year's quarter.
Overall, Fresenius saw $614 million in operating income on $4.2 billion in revenue for the three months ended Sept. 30, compared to $590 million in operating income on $4.1 billion in revenue during the same time period a year ago.
Looking back further, the company saw $1.7 billion in operating income on $12.4 billion in revenue for the nine months ended Sept. 30, compared to $1.6 billion in operating income on $11.5 billion during the same time period in 2014.
The company saw its total revenue increase by 9% at constant exchange rates, due to increases in net healthcare revenue, the company said in its financial statement. Growth in net healthcare revenue was 10% at constant exchange rates, which was spurred by growth in same-market treatments, as well as contributions from acquisitions and increases in organic revenue per treatment. But those gains were offset somewhat by exchange rate fluctuations and the impact of closed or sold clinics, Fresenius said.
Dialysis products were up 2% at constant exchange rates, the company said, and the number of dialysis treatments increased almost 4% over the same quarter in the previous year.
Fresenius said it acquired four dialysis clinics, opened six dialysis clinics and combined or closed 29 clinics, to bring its number of dialysis clinics to 3,402, compared with 3,349 during the same quarter in 2014. The number of patients treated rose by 3%.
The company expects percentage growth in revenue to increase by mid-single digits for the rest of 2015. Transactions in international markets affected the company in the second half of 2015. Fresenius said the divestiture of the dialysis service business in Venezuela and the difficult economic environment in that country caused a $26 million loss in the sale. That loss was reduced by the sale of European marketing rights for some renal pharmaceuticals to Vifor Fresenius Medical Care Renal Pharma, the company said. Shares of Fresenius were up 2.3% as of Thursday afternoon, and selling for $44.68.
Fresenius' dialysis facilities in the U.S. have been battling competitor DaVita for quality supremacy in the U.S. A CMS report issued earlier this month analyzing 5,841 dialysis facilities revealed Fresenius owned 110 five-star facilities, while DaVita owned 202. On the opposite end of the rating scale, Fresenius had 279 facilities of the 575 total in the one-star category, compared with DaVita, which had 38.
