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| Fortis Q4 net jumps fivefold, to add 1,500 beds this fiscal |
| Press Trust of India / New Delhi May 28, 2010, 19:37 IST |
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Leading hospital chain Fortis Healthcare today posted an over five-fold jump in its March quarter profit at Rs 27.2 crore, driven by robust occupancy rate and increased presence of its footprint in the country.
The billionaire brothers Malvinder and Shivinder Singh-promoted Fortis had a consolidated profit after tax of Rs 4.8 crore during the March quarter of 2008-09.
According to the company, in Q4, its occupancy rate was 70 per cent, up from 65 per cent in the year-ago period.
Our focus on superior patient care and growth strategy driven by strong pan-India presence and scale in core specialties, have paid rich dividends to us, both financially and in the quality of our clinical outcomes, managing director Shivinder M Singh said in a statement. This led to an income growth of 90.75 per cent to Rs 329.52 crore in the reporting quarter, up from Rs 172.75 crore, he added.
For the year ended March 2010, Fortis posted an over three-fold rise in its consolidated profit at Rs 69.5 crore as against Rs 20.8 crore in 2008-09 fiscal. "We are pleased with our continued strong financial performance in the year gone-by," Singh added.
During FY10, income of Asia's largest private healthcare chain rose to Rs 937.94 crore, up from Rs 630.89 crore.
Fortis, which has a network of 68 hospitals, said it is expecting to increase its bed strength by 1,200-1,500 by the end of the current fiscal. "We are expecting an increase of 1,200-1,500 beds by the end of FY11. The Kolkata, Gurgaon and Shalimar Bagh projects will open by the year-end and we are also looking at another three-four greenfield locations," Fortis Healthcare Chief Executive Bhavdeep Singh said.
However, the company ruled out any plans to enter African market. "As a company we are always looking at growth opportunities that are available. But regarding Africa, nothing is happening right now," Bhavdeep Singh said.
Significantly, Bhavdeep Singh refused to comment on the issue of the counter-offer by Malaysian government-run Khazanah for upping the stake in the Singapore-based Parkway Holdings, in which Fortis has nearly 24 per cent stake.
In a direct challenge to Fortis, Khazanah yesterday launched a 1.18-billion Singapore dollar counter offer to up its stake in Parkway.
This March, Fortis had acquired 23.9 per cent stake in Parkway--the largest healthcare chain in Asia--for Rs 3,100 crore. The deal catapulted Fortis as the biggest hospital chain in Asia in terms of beds and reach. The deal brought in more than 3,400 beds and 1,100 beds at the project stage to the Fortis network.
In December 2009, it had also acquired ten hospitals from Wockhardt, and underwent a brand transition exercise during the fourth quarter.
Shares of Fortis closed at Rs 147.45 on the BSE, down 1.60 per cent from its previous close, on a day when the index jumped 1.2 per cent.
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