WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Laboratory Corp. of America Holdings (LH) Tuesday lowered the bottom-end of its full year 2013 earnings outlook, but reaffirmed its revenue forecast. The company also detailed its guidance for the full year 2014, which is indicated to miss current Wall Street expectation.
For the full year 2013, the company now expect earnings in the range of $6.90 and $7.05 per share, compared to its previous guidance range of $6.95 to $7.05 per share. Meanwhile, the company continues to expect full-year revenues of about 3 percent.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters currently expect earnings of $7.02 per share on revenue growth 3.30% for 2013. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.
Moving ahead, Laboratory Corp. of America expects the 'challenging operating environment' to continue to negatively impact its performance through 2014.
For the fiscal year 2014, the company expects adjusted earnings of about $6.50 per share, with revenue of about 2 percent. Analysts currently expect full-year 2014 earnings of $7.54 per share on revenue growth of 2.20%.
'Looking forward,' CEO David King said, 'we continue to believe that we are uniquely positioned to deliver the critical components of success through healthcare reform: high quality, reduced cost and a central role in improving patient outcomes. We remain confident that our scale, strategy and the initiatives noted above will lead to enhanced growth and profitability in the future.'
LH closed Tuesday's trading at $99.15, down $1.15 or 1.15%, on the NYSE. The stock further dropped $6.46 or 6.52% in after-hours trade.
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