Fitch: Profitability At Highest Levels Since '98 For U.S. Non-Profit Hospitals.NEW YORK New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of -- U.S. non-profit hospitals and health care systems exceeded expectations and showed significant improvement in profitability in 2005, according to Fitch Ratings Fitch Ratings An international rating agency for financial institutions, insurance companies, and corporate, sovereign, and municipal debt. Fitch Ratings has headquarters in New York and London and is wholly owned by FIMALAC of Paris. in its latest median ratios report. Profitability ratios, which are at their highest levels since 1998, improved largely due to increasing revenues and improved operating controls. Operating margins improved 33.3% to 2.8% in 2005 from 2.1% in 2004, and excess margins sharply increased for the third consecutive year to 4.8% from 3.7% in 2004. This strong operating performance also contributed to a growth in liquidity as the 2005 median for days cash on hand improved to 163.9 days, up from 157.8 days in 2004. The 2005 median for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) A financial measure defined as revenues less cost of goods sold and selling, general, and administrative expenses. (EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization) A metric used to show a company's profitability, but not its cash flow. EBITDA became popular in the 1980s to show the potential profitability of leveraged buyouts, but has become ) debt service coverage also improved, to 3.5 times (x), from 3.3x in 2004. Fitch will hold a teleconference during the week of Aug. 7, in conjunction with the release of its new report, '2006 Median Ratios for Nonprofit Hospitals and Health Care Systems' (separate release containing call-in number and dial-in information to follow). The report details 2005 financial medians including liquidity, profitability and operations, and capital and cash flow as well as Fitch's forecast for the sector. The call will be hosted by Fitch analysts and will discuss the findings of the report. Fitch's rating definitions and the terms of use Terms of Use are rules set up by the owner of an intellectual property or service to govern how they may be legally used. In many cases, terms of service are used as a contractual agreement between a company and users of a service they provide. of such ratings are available on the agency's public site, www.fitchratings.com. Published ratings, criteria and methodologies are available from this site, at all times. Fitch's code of conduct, confidentiality, conflicts of interest, affiliate firewall, compliance and other relevant policies and procedures Policies and Procedures are a set of documents that describe an organization's policies for operation and the procedures necessary to fulfill the policies. They are often initiated because of some external requirement, such as environmental compliance or other governmental are also available from the 'Code of Conduct' section of this site. |
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