Apollo Hospitals’ consolidated profit soars nearly 3-fold in Q4

Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Ltd has posted a nearly three-fold surge in its consolidated net profit in January-March to ₹219.3 crore from ₹81.6 crore in the corresponding period last year as the healthcare chain received a boost from its stake sale in health insurance subsidiary.

In the final quarter of 2019-20, Apollo Hospitals received 198.3 crore in one-time gain from the sale of its stake in Apollo Munich Health Insurance to mortgage lender Housing Development Finance Corp.

HDFC had in June announced the acquisition of Apollo Hospitals’ entire 50.8% stake in Apollo Munich for ₹1,336 crore. Apollo Munich was a joint venture firm of the Prathap C. Reddy-led hospital chain and German reinsurer Munich Re Group. The transaction was completed in January.

Besides the one-time gain, Apollo Hospitals’ operational performance was strong, with revenue up 17% at ₹2,922 crore, while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) up 36% at 380.1 crore.

Standalone hospital business of the firm showed a 19% increase in revenue, while that from its pharmacy operations was up by a third.

While the January-March quarter was strong, the management hinted that it may not be the case in April-June and subsequent quarters of the current financial year due to the disruption caused by the covid-19 pandemic.

“The financial year 2020-21 will be challenging due to the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID has affected not just the Indian healthcare sector but also other sectors and the global economy. The short term may see an adverse impact on aspects such as medical value travel or medical tourism,” Apollo Hospitals chairman Prathap C. Reddy said in a statement, adding that he expects the healthcare sector to bounce back over the long term.