Apollo Hospital March quarter net down 41% on note ban, stent pricing

Jayalalithaa's admission and EBITDA loss in Navi Mumbai unit also affect result, firm says

Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Ltd has posted a decline of around 40.7 per cent in profit for the quarter ended March 31, 2017, at Rs 48.16 crore, from Rs 81.31 crore for the same quarter of previous fiscal year on a standalone basis.

The company's total income grew 14.6 per cent to Rs 1,670.77 crore during the quarter, from Rs 1,457.34 crore in the corresponding quarter of the last fiscal.

The company said that the demonetisation impact extended into this quarter as well, as outstation patients and those from neighbouring countries found it difficult to access currency for their treatment requirements. The patient flows into Chennai main after the VIP admission of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa took some time to recover fully, which also impacted the quarter.

"The impact of the above incidents resulted in a revenue drop of Rs 15-20 crore. The government regulation on stent pricing, effective February 14, also resulted in a revenue compression of Rs 8-10 crore. The standalone EBITDA for the quarter due to the above was impacted by Rs 15-20 crore," a company statement said.

The fourth quarter of the fiscal was the first full quarter of operations at its Navi Mumbai Hospital, which resulted in an EBITDA loss of Rs 22 crore in the quarter, it added.

The share price of the company has come down from Rs 1,240.95 in the afternoon to a low of Rs 1,188.15 per share after the result was announced, before rising again to Rs 1,209.50 per share.

The profit before tax and interest from healthcare services declined to Rs 83 crore from Rs 101.71 crore during the same quarter last year. Profit from pharmacy was also down to Rs 24.27 crore from Rs 30.61 crore during the same quarter last year.

Prathap C Reddy, chairman of the Group said that the company is in the process of adding Cancer Institutes within its facilities in Mumbai and Bhubaneswar to supplement the existing network of eight Cancer Institutes.

The profit for the year 2016-17 has also come down 14.6 per cent to Rs 285.15 crore as compared to Rs 333.95 crore during the previous fiscal year. The total income during the fiscal year 2016-17 was at Rs 6,467.66 crore as compared to Rs 5,621.04 crore during the previous fiscal year, up 15 per cent.

The consolidated revenues for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2017 was at Rs 7,255 crore, with a growth of 17 per cent, crossing the $1 billion mark, it added. The consolidated profit after tax was at Rs 216 crore.