Leading corporate hospital chain Aster DM Healthcare, which draws most of its revenue from the Middle Eastern operations, reported a net income of Rs 5 crore for the June quarter due to some one-off expenses.
Azad Moopen, the founder chairman and managing director of Aster Healthcare attributed the low profitability to expenses towards new hospitals and non-recurring exceptional items.
The company reported a 21 per cent year-on-year jump in revenue at Rs 3,215 crore from which it earned Rs 84 core in profit after tax, the company said in a statement. `
The Q1 performance was shaped by not only the improvement in realizations but also increase in the number of beds at existing hospitals as well as at the new facilities.
The strong growth across both India as well the GCC regions and various cost improvement initiatives enabled even higher improvement in pre-tax profit, Moopen said. `
The India operations continued to grow faster, witnessing a substantial 29 per cent increase in revenue at Rs 838 crore and pre-tax income increasing 47 per cent to Rs 123 crore, he said.
While the project pipeline is advancing significantly, the group is also building on an asset-light strategy that has potential to generate higher returns of capital employed over a period.
Accordingly, he said the company has entered into a collaboration with PMF Hospital in Kollam, Kerala, adding 530 beds under this model in less than two years.
Alisha Moopen, deputy managing director of the chain said, Q1 performance in the GCC was remarkable, with revenue growing 18 per cent to Rs 2,377 crore, which she attributed to strategic projects and asset optimization, leading to a 27 per cent jump in pre-tax income to Rs 265 crore.
Aster has strong presence across primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary healthcare and runs 33 hospitals, 127 clinics, 527 pharmacies, and 229 labs and patient experience centers in six Gulf countries and India.
It employs over 31,220 staff, including close to 4,000 doctors and over 9,200 nurses.
