IHH Healthcare reports 31.3% rise in Q1 profit on growth in core operations, Covid-19 services rendered
Wong Pei Ting
MALAYSIAN hospital group IHH Healthcare on Thursday (May 26) reported a 31.3 per cent increase in its net profit for the first quarter ended Mar 31, as the company witnessed growth from core operations and contribution from Covid-19 services rendered.
Net profit for the quarter went up to RM493.3 million (S$154.9 million), from RM375.6 million over the same period last year.
Revenue for the period grew as well, by 5.5 per cent to RM4.16 billion, from RM3.95 billion in the year-ago period.
Earnings per share rose to 5.36 sen, from 4.04 sen the year before.
In a bourse filing, the group attributed the higher revenue largely to recovery from local patient revenue, contribution from Covid-19 related services rendered and a continuous ramp-up of operations at Gleneagles Hong Kong (GHK) Hospital.
Acquisitions of medical scanning and testing centre DDRC SRL Diagnostics in Kerala, India, last April and General Hospital Acibadem Bel Medic in Serbia last July also contributed to the increase, it pointed out.
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The growth in revenue was, however, dampened by the effects of the disposal of Continental Hospitals in December last year and the temporary closure of all clinics in China for a period in March, following a spike in the number of Covid-19 cases in Shanghai, it noted.
In a statement, IHH Healthcare managing director and chief executive officer Kelvin Loh said the group is “nimbly adapting to the new normal” moving forward, adding that it is pursuing new growth opportunities by developing its laboratories segment, among others.
“We see growth in (the laboratories segment’s) underlying core business and will work towards becoming a global laboratories service provider, backed by our deep clinical know-how and capabilities,” he added.
In the short term, however, he said IHH Healthcare may experience some headwinds with the melt-off of its Covid-19 related revenues and from global inflationary pressures.
The counter closed flat at S$2.01 before the results were released on Thursday.
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