Apollo Hospitals (APOLLOHOSP) Q4 98/99 earnings summary

Executive summary

• FY99 turnover rose 13.62% to Rs1,016.64m; net profit after tax increased 8.35% to Rs92.74m.

• Preventive health screening became a major growth initiative, with nearly 26,000 checks, up 90% YoY.

• Expansion included home-care services through a wholly owned subsidiary, while telemedicine and additional preventive-care offerings were planned.

Financial highlights

• Turnover was Rs1,016.64m versus Rs897.75m; hospital collections were Rs980.35m versus Rs859.23m.

• Operating profit before financial expenses and depreciation increased 14.73% to Rs308.88m from Rs269.22m.

• PBT was Rs115.23m versus Rs88.04m; PAT was Rs92.74m versus Rs85.59m.

• EPS increased to Rs5.83 from Rs5.37; proposed dividend remained 25%, or Rs2.50 per share.

Outlook and guidance

• Plans included a cardiac rehabilitation centre in Chennai and additional lifestyle-management clinics in the city.

• Telemedicine was planned initially for Aragonda and Melur, with a longer-term aim to link villages to tertiary-care hospitals.

• Home-care services were exploring centres in Hyderabad and Delhi after requests for expansion; these were under consideration.

• The infrastructure-industry status for healthcare remained a policy objective being pursued.