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Indian healthcare group Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Ltd reported a 33% drop in the third-quarter profit on Tuesday, hurt by weakness in its digital business.

Consolidated net profit plunged to 1.53 billion rupees ($18.48 million) for the three months ended Dec. 31, from 2.28 billion rupees, a year earlier, as total expenses surged about 22% to 40.12 billion rupees.

The Chennai-based company recorded a loss of 215.4 million rupees related to its joint ventures.

The company's digital health business, which houses the Apollo 24x7 operations, recorded a 34.5% jump in revenue to 17.58 billion rupees, but posted a loss of 742.3 million rupees, compared to a profit of 321 million rupees a year earlier.

Total revenue from operation increased 17% to 42.64 billion rupees.

India's Apollo has been expanding its presence in the domestic healthcare market through mergers and acquisitions.

In December, the company acquired a 60% stake in Kerala First Health to diversify its portfolio into ayurveda medical care. Its subsidiary Apollo Rajshree Hospital bought a majority stake in Sobhagya Hospital and Research Centre.

The company also declared an interim dividend of 6 rupees per share in an exchange filing.

($1 = 82.7770 Indian rupees)

(This story has been refiled to fix dateline to Feb. 14)

(Reporting by Priya Sagar in Bengaluru; Editing by Shweta Agarwal)