UPDATE 1-HCA quarterly earnings down, as legal costs weigh
Posted on February 05, 2013 at 09:21 AM EST
* Q4 EPS of 92 cents excluding legal costs tops analysts' 82 cents view * Admissions to hospitals owned at least one year rose 4.3 percent Feb 5 (Reuters) - HCA Holdings Inc, the largest U.S. for-profit hospital operator, reported lower fourth-quarter net earnings, reduced by costs to settle legal claims. Net income fell to $314 million, or 68 cents per share, compared with $1.94 billion, or $4.25 a share, a year earlier, when one-time gains from facilities sales and an investment