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India's Apollo Hospitals Enterprise topped second-quarter profit expectations on Wednesday, driven by higher demand for its healthcare services.

The hospital chain operator's consolidated net profit surged nearly 63% year-on-year to 3.79 billion rupees ($45 million) in the quarter ended Sept. 30, beating analysts' average estimate of 3.64 billion rupees, as per data compiled by LSEG.

Hospital chain operators such as Apollo and Max Healthcare have been focused on improving their occupancy rates by adding new beds and accommodating more expensive elective surgeries.

The Chennai-based hospital chain said it had 7,994 operating beds as of September end and its overall occupancy rose to 73% during the second quarter from 68% last year.

This helped its revenue from the healthcare services business - which contributes more than half its total revenue - rise 14%, pushing up overall revenue by 15% to 55.89 billion rupees. Analysts, on average, expected revenue of 55.13 billion rupees.

The company's digital health and pharmacy vertical, which offers online consultations and operates the 'Apollo 24/7' platform, reported a profit of 389 million rupees, compared with a loss a year ago, further boosting the hospital chain operator's margins.

Apollo Hospitals' shares ended flat ahead of results. They climbed about 16% during September quarter. ($1 = 84.2760 Indian rupees)