DaVita misses quarterly profit estimates on rising costs, lower volumes

(Reuters) -DaVita missed Wall Street estimates for third-quarter profit on Wednesday, as the kidney dialysis provider grappled with rising patient care costs and declining treatment volumes.

The Colorado-based company, which offers dialysis services through outpatient clinics and at-home care across the United States, said average daily U.S. dialysis treatments fell 0.5% from the previous quarter to 91,680. Compared with a year earlier, normalized non-acquired treatment growth declined 0.6%.

Patient care costs per treatment rose nearly 6% year-over-year to $271.23 for the nine-month period, driven by pharmaceutical and compensation costs.

General and administrative expenses also rose to $322 million in the quarter, up $10 million from the prior quarter, primarily due to IT-related costs