Wakefield Health cuts dividend, reports lower profit

Tuesday 17th May 2011

Private hospital operator Wakefield Health has cut its annual dividend and reported lower earnings in a difficult trading environment.

Directors declared a fully imputed final dividend of eight cents per share, payable on June 24 to shareholders on the register at June 17, down from 10 cents per share last year. Directors cited a challenging trading environment and future capital commitments as reasons for the cut.

People were trading down to health insurance policies with less cover in the fragile economic environment, the company said.

It reported a 90.6% fall in net profit after tax to $582,000, and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation fell by 9.4 percent to $14.78 million.

Revenue fell 1.2% and operating expenses rose 1%.

NZPA

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