Mizuho sees strong Q1 profit for health insurers

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08/04/2022 14:02

** Health insurers and managed care providers are set to
report strong Q1 profits, brokerage Mizuho says based on its
survey of 208 physicians
    ** Mizuho does not see any meaningful outlook changes from
insurers, while healthcare utilization remains below 2019 levels
despite improvement in Q1
    ** For clinical labs, brokerage says elevated levels of
COVID-19 testing and steady recovery in base businesses should
help boost Q1 earnings
    ** Brokerage lowers its Q1 revenue estimates for contract
research organizations IQVIA Holdings  IQV.N  and ICON  ICLR.O 
to reflect headwinds from forex and Ukraine/Russia conflict
    ** Physician survey shows new patient recruitment is now
~88% of pre-pandemic levels vs ~63% in its Q4 survey - Mizuho
    ** IQV and ICLR, down 11.7% and 16.8%, respectively YTD  
    ** S&P 500 managed health care index  .SPLRCHMO  up ~7% YTD

 (Reporting by Bhanvi Satija in Bengaluru)
 ((Bhanvi.Satija@thomsonreuters.com; Outside U.S. +91
9873062788))