Abu Dhabi-based NMC Health, the London-listed healthcare provider, yesterday reported rising revenue but a flat net profit yesterday as it continued to expand.
The company reported a 14.7 per cent jump in adjusted net profit to US$46.9 million, boosted by increasing revenue from its domestic business.
But net profit dipped 0.1 per cent to $40.8m, as the half included four acquisitions that did not start generating revenue immediately.
In trading yesterday afternoon on the London Stock Exchange, NMC shares were up 0.5 per cent at £7.28 apiece.
“The 0.1 per cent decline in net profit for the period primarily reflects incurred acquisition costs,” said B R Shetty, the chief executive of NMC Health.
“The real figure to look at is the adjusted net profit, which is $46.9m for the first half of this year, up 14.7 per cent on the prior period, and excludes non-recurring and one-off expenses, which reflects the strong performance of the core business.
“We have successfully executed the largest private-sector expansion programme in the fast-growing UAE healthcare market, with five new healthcare assets and a total of 410 new licensed beds being gradually introduced into our hub-and-spoke network.”
The company said revenue increased by 25.3 per cent year on year to $393.8m in the first half of this year comparedwith $314.3m in the first half of last year.
NMC employed 48 per cent more doctors in the first half of this year than the same period last year, with 803 practitioners now registered with the group.
NMC has made four acquisitions since February.
The company bought 86.4 per cent of the Spanish fertility centre Clinica Eugin for an enterprise value of €143m (Dh597.5m), and all of UAE-based ProVita International Medical Centre for $160.6m.
In April, it bought two health care service providers in the UAE, Americare Group and Dr Sunny Healthcare Group, for a total of $100m.
The NMC group is preparing to launch operations at its 250-bed NMC Royal Hospital in Abu Dhabi, which is to open to outpatient services on September 1. Inpatient services are expected to begin before the end of this year.
The NMC group began expanding after its IPO in 2012, and now plans to consolidate for the second half of this year. The company acquired $825m of finance this year, of which $315m is still available to be invested.
“We will look for further opportunities next year or will have to return the finance,” said Prasanth Manghat, the deputy chief executive of NMC.
ascott@thenational.ae
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