HMI posts 11% fall in Q4 net profit to RM13.5m

HEALTH Management International (HMI) on Monday announced net profit fell 11 per cent to RM13.5 million (S$4.48 million) for the fourth quarter ended June 30, down from RM15.2 million in the year-ago period.

This was despite revenue for the quarter rising 10 per cent to RM131.1 million from RM119.2 million in the year-ago period.

Gross profit margin decreased to 33 per cent from 34.4 per cent a year before, which HMI attributed to its new ambulatory care centre in Singapore, StarMed Specialist Centre, which started operations in Q1 2019. HMI said it expects to incur start-up costs from this care centre's operations for potentially up to three years.

Earnings per share for the quarter were 1.61 sen, compared with 1.82 sen a year ago. No dividend was declared.

With the latest results, full-year net profit was down 19 per cent at RM48.8 million from RM60.6 million previously. Full-year revenue was up 8.9 per cent at RM509.4 million.

Excluding the impact of gestation costs from StarMed Specialist centre, EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) would have increased 8.9 per cent year-on-year instead of 0.7 per cent, noted HMI. Core PATMI - referring to profit after tax and minority interests, excluding non-operational and one-off items - would have increased 14.2 per cent year-on-year, instead of falling 10 per cent, the company noted.

A proposed privatisation deal was announced in July, which if successful will see HMI becoming a unit of PanAsia Health and delisting from the Singapore Exchange. On Aug 13, HMI said it has applied to court for leave to convene a shareholder meeting for approval of the privatisation bid, with the application scheduled to be heard on Aug 22.

Amendment note: An earlier version of the story incorrectly gave figures in Chinese yuan instead of Malaysian ringgit. This has been corrected above.