Apollo Hospitals redraws medical tourism map as Bangladesh share dips

Apollo Hospitals offsets Bangladesh disruption with Africa and West Asia push, lifting international revenue 28% in Q3FY26 as Apollo 24/7 eyes breakeven by Q1FY27

Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Limited (AHEL) has said that it is already out of the impact from the Bangladesh crisis in its overseas patient inflow owing to diversification to new regions.

 

After two years of disruption in patients coming from the neighbouring country, the hospital chain’s international patient revenue rose 28 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) during the third quarter of FY26.

 

Share of patients from other regions, including Africa, West Asia, and South East Asia, increased during the period while Bangladesh dipped.According to company data, this diversification led to patient inflows from the country dipping to 7-8 per cent during Q3FY26, from 30 per cent in early 2024. 

 

"I don't see any incremental or negative impact of Bangladesh from here on… There has been a clear focus in international patients beyond Bangladesh, and that has come from various markets," said Krishnan Akhileswaran, group chief financial officer (CFO) at Apollo Hospitals. 

 

International patients constituted around 6 per cent or ₹190 crore of the total revenue of ₹3,183 crore in Q3FY26. 

 

"We are diversifying away from Bangladesh as the single biggest contributor so that a drop in patients from that country will affect our overall IPS model," said Madhu Sasidhar, president and chief executive officer of AHEL. 

 

Inflow of Bangladesh patients started declining after political tensions in the country escalated in 2024, leading to diplomatic differences between Dhaka and New Delhi.

 

As part of its diversification strategy, Apollo Hospitals has already entered into a 10-year agreement with Iraq's Ministry of Interior to manage and operate the Internal Security Force Hospital in Baghdad. Under this agreement, Apollo will run the 1,026-bed hospital. Nearly 20,000 Iraqi patients visit Hyderabad annually for treatment. Last year, the company had entered into a partnership with Indonesia’s Mayapada Healthcare group to enhance healthcare services in the region.

 

Sasidhar added that Iraq, Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan, Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries, and South East Asian countries from Brunei to Indonesia are gaining importance in its portfolio.

 

Apollo 24/7 to break even in Q1FY27

 

The company said that Apollo 24/7 is on track to break even by the first quarter of FY27. AHEL has already planned a restructuring process to unlock the value of its omni-channel pharmacy and digital businesses, and to enhance shareholder returns.

 

In June 2025, the Chennai-based hospital chain had announced plans to spin off its digital health and pharmacy distribution businesses into a separate entity, drawing up plans to list the new entity within 18 to 21 months. As part of the restructuring, the company’s omni-channel pharma and digital health business, Apollo HealthCo, will first be demerged from AHEL into a new entity, following which, its pharma distribution arm, Keimed, will be merged into the new company.

 

“On a consolidated basis, Apollo HealthCo is expected to be around ₹20,000 crore this year. Next year, by Q4 we should be at a run rate of ₹25,000 crore with a 7 per cent Ebitda margin. By the end of this year, we should be demerging that and listing it also," Akhileswaran said.

 

The CCI (Competition Commission of India) has already given its clearance in September. The company said it is also expecting a no-objection certificate from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).

 

"The process is already on, we have already got the stock exchange approval. Other clearances will take another six to eight months, and once that is out, we should be able to get shareholder approval. By Q3 of FY27, we should be able to list it, or even before it," he said.

 

The entire process of restructuring is expected to be over by the listing of the new company. The new entity will include the digital health platform Apollo 24/7, the offline pharmacy business of Apollo HealthCo, Keimed, and the telehealth services business.