June 24--Accretive Health reported a $79.6 million loss last year, its fourth unprofitable year in the last five years, as the company struggles to bounce back from legal and accounting troubles.
By the numbers: The Chicago-based company, which helps hospitals collect bills from patients and insurers, said the loss equaled 83 cents a diluted share. In 2013, Accretive had net income of $130 million, or $1.34 a diluted share. Revenue in 2014 fell 58 percent to $210.1 million, from $504.7 million.
The "why": Financial results in 2013 were boosted by the renewal of a contract with the company's biggest customer, Ascension Health, one of the nation's largest hospital systems. The company recorded $360.5 million in revenues from the agreement.
Accretive Health is sensitive to how it books revenue after it pulled nine quarters of financial statements in early 2013 to correct accounting errors related to the timing of when revenues from certain contracts were recorded. The company completed the restatement in December, but the Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating the circumstances of the restatement.
The company is still recovering from the massive financial restatement. Its 2014 annual report was delayed, and it doesn't expect to file its 2015 first-quarter results until next month.
The 2014 results include $86.7 million in costs related to the restatement and layoffs, compared with $33.9 million in similar costs the year before.
Quote you on that: "We are pleased with the progress we have achieved in the process of becoming current with our filings, and expect to be back to a normal reporting cycle as a publicly-traded company in the coming months," Peter Csapo, chief financial officer, said in a statement.
Highlights from the year: Accretive hired Emad Rizk as chief executive officer. Two of its customers terminated their contracts, but one of them entered into a new agreement.
Accretive was delisted from the New York Stock Exchange because it missed a deadline for restating results. Shares of the company are traded over the counter.
Outlook: For the first quarter of 2015, the company said it expects revenue of $9 million to $11 million and a loss of $29 million to $31 million.
asachdev@tribpub.com
