Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Ltd (AHEL) posted a rise of 61.3 per cent in net profit at Rs 47 crore during the quarter ended March 2011, compared to Rs 29.2 crore reported during the corresponding period the last financial year. The company's total income stood at Rs 621.4 crore during the last quarter against Rs 482.9 crore during the same period last year, an increase of 28.7 per cent.
The pharmacy business, which has been making loss for the last few years, has shown a profit of Rs 60 lakh in Ebitda (earnings before interest, taxes depreciation and amortisation) for the fourth quarter ended March, which shows the business is turning around, said K Padmanabhan, group president.
Last year in the same period, the loss was of Rs 1.49 crore. The pharmacy business contributes around 25 per cent of the consolidated revenue of the Group. The segment grew at 38 per cent while the hospitals business reported a 24 per cent growth for 2010-11.
The company expects to continue a growth of 25 to 28 per cent in the current year, he said.
On a consolidated basis, the net profit of the Group stood at Rs 183.9 crore for year ended March 2011, against Rs 137.6 crore during the previous year, an increase of 33.7 per cent. The total income for 2010-11 showed an increase of 28.6 per cent at Rs 2605.4 crore compared to Rs 2026.7 crore reported during the previous year.
The group is also planning to invest Rs 840 crore in the next two years to add 2,400 beds. It would invest Rs 340 crore this year to add 600 more beds in its ongoing projects.
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“Of the proposed investment, we have Rs 220 crore in cash. The rest would be acquired through equity and debentures. We have also enabled resolution with our stakeholders to raise Rs 800 crore. There is no plan to raise private equity,” he said.
At present, Apollo has around 8,700 beds, of which 700 beds were added in last 15 months.
The group is also planning to shut down 100 retail outlets, which has not been profitable after running for more than two-and-a-half to three years. It would, however, open 250 outlets this year, which would attract an investment of Rs 15 crore.
“The plan is to close non-profitable outlets and open new ones in more potential areas, said Padmanabhan. The company runs a total of 1,200 pharmacies.
The company is also looking at more management contract deals overseas, including in West Asia, as part for expansion. However, it will not invest in any of the overseas projects, since the model is to operate facilities set up by its partner firms.