Apollo Hospitals Aiming For 70% Occupancy In Next Four Quarters, Says Group CFO
The hospital's average revenue per occupied bed was up 9.5% year-on-year to Rs 56,000, Krishnan Akhileswaran said.
Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Ltd. is aiming to achieve 70% occupancy over the next four quarters through volume growth, according to Group Chief Financial Officer Krishnan Akhileswaran.
The company's revenue rose 13.76% to Rs 4,850.6 crore in the third quarter of fiscal 2024, as compared with Rs 4,263.6 crore in the same period last year.
Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Q3 FY24 (Consolidated, YoY)
Revenue up 13.76% at Rs 4,850.6 crore vs Rs 4,263.6 crore (Bloomberg estimate: Rs 4,810 crore).
Ebitda up 21.42% at Rs 613.7 crore vs Rs 505.4 crore (Bloomberg estimate: Rs 615 crore).
Margin expands 79 bps to 12.65% vs 11.85% (Bloomberg estimate: 12.8%).
Net profit up 56.65% at Rs 254.4 crore vs Rs 162.4 crore (Bloomberg estimate: Rs 255 crore).
"The results were good for the quarter. If you look at the overall margins vs. Q3 of last year, we have actually expanded our margins from 11.9% to 12.7% at the consolidated levels, so there is no margin pressure at all on the consolidated level," he told NDTV Profit.
The company is expected to break even by Q4 due to the successful convergence of digital health and pharmacy distribution, the group CFO said. "However, we surpassed expectations, achieving break-even in the current quarter, leading to expanded quarterly numbers and Ebitda margins."
The healthcare services sector saw slight Ebitda margin compression by 0.9% to 23.8% during the quarter, due to increased recruitment of clinical talent to boost volume and occupancy. "Costs are expected to be recovered within two quarters," he said.
"The quarter saw a 66% occupancy rate, which could have been higher if not for the floods and cyclones in Chennai and parts of Andhra," he said.
The hospital's average revenue per occupied bed was up 9.5% year-on-year to Rs 56,000, the group CFO said. "That is because we have been focusing significantly on a lot of retail corporate as well as insurance in our payer mix."
Apollo is significantly augmenting its cardiac, orthopaedics, oncology and large tertiary care specialties. "We are adding medical talent and technologies for oncology, which should augur well for us over the next three-four quarters," Akhileswaran said.
The hospital group plans to add 2,200 beds within the next three years. The announced capex will be evenly distributed over this period, he said.
"Next year, we are adding Pune, which will come hopefully by Q3-end or Q4-beginning. Then, we are also adding a hospital in Hyderabad and Kolkata," Akhileswaran said.
