Conference Call with Fortis Healthcare Ltd. Management and Analysts on Q3FY24 Performance and Outlook. Listen to the full earnings transcript.
Fortis Healthcare announced Q3FY24 & 9MFY24 results: Q3FY24 Highlights: Hospital business revenues increased 9.6% versus the corresponding previous quarter, led by a 10.6% increase in ARPOB to Rs 2.23 crore. Q3FY24 hospital business revenues were at Rs 1,389.5 crore versus Rs 1,267.4 crore in Q3FY23 and Rs 1,452.6 crore in Q2FY24. Occupancy stood at 64.0% in Q3FY24 versus 66.1% in Q3FY23, owing to an increase in the operational beds by ~100, while the occupied beds remained flat YoY. Occupancy levels on a like-to-like basis were at similar levels. ARPOB grew 10.6% to Rs 2.23 crore for Q3FY24 from Rs 2.02 crore in Q3FY23. Q3FY24 diagnostics business gross revenues were at Rs 330.7 crore versus Rs 331.5 crore in Q3FY23. Net debt to EBITDA was at 0.45 vs 0.41 (basis annualized EBITDA of Q3FY24 and Q3FY23, respectively). Net debt was at Rs 518 crore as of December 31, 2023, versus Rs 471 crore as of December 31, 2022. 9MFY24 Highlights: 9MFY24 consolidated revenues were at Rs 5,107.0 crore, up 9.7% versus 9MFY23. The operating margins for 9MFY24 were 17.4%, lower than the 17.8% in the corresponding previous period. 9MFY24 hospital business revenues grew 11.7% to Rs 4,196.2 crore as compared to Rs 3,756.8 crore in 9MFY23. Operating margins stood at 17.3% for the period versus 17.1% in the corresponding previous period. 9MFY24 diagnostic business gross revenues were at Rs 1,033.6 crore versus Rs 1,015.3 crore in 9MFY23. Ravi Rajagopal, Chairman, Board of Directors, Fortis Healthcare stated, “The quarter’s performance has been led by the hospital business which continues to show a YoY improvement in margins. Plans for incrementally adding to our existing bed capacity by almost 50% are progressing and when operationalized will eventually see some of our key facilities such as Shalimar Bagh, FMRI, Mohali, and BG Road becoming more than 450 beds each. We are also further augmenting our clinical talent and medical infrastructure. In addition, we continue to supplement our expansion plans inorganically with the acquisition of assets such as the 350-bed hospital in Manesar, NCR, and adjunct land parcels to our existing facilities such as the recent one in Kolkata. We have also successfully rationalized our portfolio having divested two of our lossmaking facilities in Chennai; the Arcot Road Vadapalani facility in July 2023 and the Fortis Malar facility in February 2024; thereby improving the profitability of the company”. Commenting on the results for the quarter, Dr Ashutosh Raghuvanshi, MD and CEO, Fortis Healthcare stated, “The healthy performance in the hospital business which contributes approx. 88% to overall consolidated EBITDA has largely offset the muted performance of the diagnostics business. Our ARPOB continues to show robust growth touching Rs 2.23 crore, an increase of 10.6%. We have commissioned a state-of-the-art medical equipment; the likes of AI-enabled cath labs, surgical robots, and advanced neuro-sciences labs in facilities such as Noida, Anandpur, and Faridabad. Our expansion strategy continues to focus on deepening our cluster presence with the launch of a new 70-bed facility in Ludhiana. This is the second facility in Ludhiana and the fourth in Punjab taking our total bed count in the state to approx. 800. Focus on retaining and attracting high-quality clinical talent remains a priority with the quarter witnessing clinicians from key specialties such as cardiology, oncology, and neurology joining the Fortis network. Our efforts on digital transformation are progressing well with the EMR (Electronic Medical Records) program implementation underway and revenues from digital channels witnessing a robust growth of over 30%”. Result PDF