Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Ltd, largest hospital chain in India by market capitalisation, has posted a 4 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 87 crore for quarter ended September 30, 2013 over the year-ago period. The company saw a 16.5 per cent increase in revenue at Rs 975 crore compared with Rs 836 crore for the same quarter last year.
Net margins were affected by a faster rise in expenses, lower other income and higher interest cost.
The pharmacy business saw growth of 22 per cent at Rs 338 crore and saw segment profit of Rs 8.4 crore, up 44 per cent over the year-ago period. Healthcare services, which is its core hospital services business, grew 14 per cent to Rs 636.5 crore. The segment profit from healthcare services was up 7.9 per cent at Rs 119.9 crore, which means margins were under pressure in its core business.
Fortis Healthcare
Fortis Healthcare Ltd, which divested its assets in Australia and Vietnam in the recent past in a U-turn of business strategy to build a pan-Asian healthcare firm, reported a decrease in overall revenue at Rs 1,280 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2013, compared with Rs 1,493 crore in same period last year.
This was largely due to selloff of some overseas assets. Fortis, which re-strategised to focus on India, sold Australia-based Dental Corp and Vietnam-based Fortis Hoan in the last few months. It has also struck deal to sell its Hong Kong-based unit.
The revenue from India operation grew 22 per cent to Rs 879 crore. The hospital business saw a 24 per cent rise in revenues to Rs 708 crore while the diagnostic business under SRL increased 14 per cent to Rs 171 crore.
The firm saw a decline in EBITDA to Rs 159 crore from Rs 260 crore in the year-ago period. However, it reported a net profit of Rs 32 crore against a net loss of Rs 28.4 crore in the second quarter last year. This was boosted by tax reversal due to an intra-group transaction and a sharp decline in finance costs.
The firm, which raised fresh private equity funding in the recent past besides an institutional offer, has cut its long- and short-term debt from Rs 5,163.71 crore as of March 31, 2013 to Rs 2,544.35 crore as of September 30, 2013.
“Our results for the quarter strongly reflect the focus of the company on the India business. We will pursue both greenfield and brownfield capacity expansion to continue our growth trajectory and market leadership in India,” said Vishal Bali, Group CEO of Fortis Healthcare Ltd. Bali is the outgoing chief of Fortis.
(Edited by Joby Puthuparampil Johnson)
