(Reuters) -Centene Corp beat Wall Street estimates for third-quarter profit on Tuesday, helped by lower-than-feared medical costs.
Easing fears over medical costs, which were expected to see a jump tracking a recovery in elective surgeries such as hip and knee replacements that were delayed by the pandemic, also helped rivals UnitedHealth Group and Elevance Health beat quarterly profit estimates earlier this month.
Centene’s quarterly medical loss ratio, or the percentage of premiums paid out for medical services, was 87%, compared with LSEG estimate of 88.03%.
On an adjusted basis, Centene earned $2 per share in the three months to Sept. 30, compared with analysts’ average estimate of $1.57 per share, according to LSEG data.
The company said it recorded non-cash writedowns of $393 million from the U.K. businesses.
(Reporting by Mariam Sunny and Pratik Jain in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)
