Fortis Healthcare has posted a six-fold jump in net profit for the second quarter ended September 30, thanks to the one-time gain of Rs 53.9 crore it made from the divesture of stake in Singapore-based Parkway Holdings.
The country’s second largest private hospital chain registered a net profit of Rs 74.8 crore, up 477 per cent as compared to nearly Rs 13 crore during the same quarter last year.
Promoted by billionaire brothers Malvinder Mohan Singh and Shivinder Mohan Singh, Fortis had sold its 24.88 per cent stake in Parkway Holdings for Rs 3,839 crore and gained Rs 342.6 crore through the transaction. However, it had to pay Rs 174.3 crore towards legal and professional charges, lawyer and merchant banker fees, the company said in a filing to Bombay Stock Exchange today.
Excluding the Parkway gain, the profit was Rs 20.9 crore, almost double what it earned during the corresponding quarter in 2009. The growth was triggered by Rs 24.5 crore earned from treating patients from abroad, company officials said.
Revenues from the healthcare facilities it acquired from Mumbai-based Wockhardt last year and increased business from within its own network also contributed to the growth.
“The Wockhardt acquisition has started showing results. Fortis has done well, both operationally and profit-wise,” a Mumbai-based stock market analyst said.
Addressing a conference call with reporters, Fortis executives said the company’s total income rose to Rs 357.9 crore in the September quarter from Rs 190.5 crore in the year-ago period. They also said Fortis planned to invest Rs 650 crore over the next 18 months, to add 2,100 beds to its network. The group has a combined bed strength of a little over 6,000 beds at present.