Higher occupancy, speciality care demand boost India`s Apollo Hospitals Q3 profit
Apollo Hospitals Enterprise beat third-quarter profit estimates on Monday due to increased occupancy and demand for speciality care and said it was on track to add 3,512 beds over the next three to four years, starting FY26.
Hospital-chain operators such as Apollo, Max Healthcare and Aster DM Healthcare have been focusing on increasing their bed counts and expanding their existing projects on a robust post-pandemic demand for healthcare services.
The overall occupancy for its hospitals across India rose 2% to 68%, compared to the same period last year, aided by a strong increase in patient flows, Apollo said.
The average revenue generated from each bed rose 8%, compared to a year ago, despite a seasonally weak quarter, Chief Financial Officer Krishnan Akhileswaran told Reuters. Admission volumes for speciality care in gastroenterology, oncology and neuroscience have been substantially higher, the company's Chief Executive Officer (Hospital Division), Madhu Sasidhar, said in an interview.
"The insured component of our patient base has consistently increased... so we are seeing a higher percentage of patients in that insured segment who come to us for the quality care," he said.
The Chennai-based hospital chain, which had over 7,996 beds as of December 2024, reported a 51.8% rise in consolidated net profit to 3.72 billion rupees ($42.5 million) for the quarter ended December 31 versus the previous year.
Analysts, on average, expected 3.51 billion rupees, according to data compiled by LSEG. Revenue from its healthcare services business, which contributes more than half its total revenue, jumped 12.9%, pushing overall revenues up by 14% to 55.27 billion rupees. Analysts, on average, expected revenue of 55.23 billion rupees.
The company expects its Apollo 24/7 business, which offers digital healthcare and pharmacy services, to achieve EBITDA - or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation - break-even by the end of fiscal 2026, Akhileswaran said.
($1 = 87.4470 Indian rupees)
