Quest Diagnostics Sees Q3 Below View - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Quest Diagnostics Inc. (DGX) said Thursday that it expects to report adjusted earnings per share from continuing operations of $1.02 for the third quarter 2013, compared to $1.15 per share in the third quarter of 2012.

The company also expects to report earnings per share from continuing operations of $2.66 for the quarter, compared to $0.98 per share in 2012, reflecting the impact of the gain on the Ibrutinib royalty rights sale and the loss on the sale of Enterix.

The company anticipates that its third-quarter revenues from continuing operations to be $1.79 billion, 1.9% below the prior-year period.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect the company to report earnings of $1.20 per share and revenues of $1.84 billion for the third-quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Third quarter performance was driven by underlying test volume for Diagnostic Information Services, measured by test requisitions and excluding 2013 acquisitions, softened late in the quarter, following indications of improvement, and was down approximately 1% vs. the prior year. While under pressure all year from government and commercial payers, Diagnostic Information Services revenue per requisition, excluding recent acquisitions, was down 3.3% in the quarter, with about 0.5% principally due to increased denial rates for certain molecular tests.

"Early in the third quarter, we were encouraged by revenue performance that was in line with our expectations. However, later in the quarter, revenues deteriorated, leading to results that did not meet our expectations," said Steve Rusckowski, President and CEO.

The company said it intends to provide a full report on third quarter 2013 results, including updated 2013 guidance, and conduct a conference call with investors on October 17, 2013.