Oct 30 (Reuters) – India’s Max Healthcare Institute reported a 15.6% fall in second-quarter profit on Friday, as the absence of a one-time tax benefit from a year earlier overshadowed growth in patient volumes across its expanding hospital network.
The hospital operator’s consolidated net profit fell to 4.15 billion rupees ($43.64 million) in the quarter ended September 30 from 4.91 billion rupees a year earlier.
Here are further details:
• The year-ago quarter included a one-time tax benefit of about 1.49 billion rupees from the merger of Crosslay Remedies with the former Jaypee Healthcare
• Analysts expect hospital revenue to rise, but say margins may remain under pressure as new facilities ramp up
• Max has been expanding its hospital network to capitalise on growing domestic healthcare demand and India’s emergence as a global medical tourism destination
• Its operational bed capacity rose 16% year-on-year to 5,518 beds, while occupied bed days increased 13%. Overall occupancy remained steady at 77%
• Revenue from operations rose 20.3% to 25.69 billion rupees
• Total expenses rose 20.1% year-on-year
• The company also approved capital expenditure of 4.15 billion rupees to add 209 beds across existing hospitals and revised the cost of its upcoming Gurugram hospital project to 11.43 billion rupees
($1 = 95.0250 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Puyaan Singh and Surbhi Misra in Bengaluru; Editing by Jochelle Mendonca)
