Omicron variant impacted Q4 performance due to fall in hospitalisations: Max Healthcare

The third wave of COVID-19 pandemic driven by the Omicron variant impacted the Q4 performance and, unlike in the previous waves, it did not lead to COVID-related hospitalisations, Max Healthcare, the Indian private sector healthcare services company, said on Wednesday.

The company, which announced its Q4 results for the three months and the fiscal year ended March 31, 2022, said that the non-COVID admissions reduced substantially. Consequently, the first half of the quarter witnessed reduction in electives.  However, the second half of the quarter witnessed a strong recovery, which was partly fuelled by the international medical tourism bouncing back to around 90 per cent of the pre-COVID levels in March 2022, the company said in a statement.

The Max network's gross revenue stood at Rs 1,298 crore during Q4, reflecting a growth of 12 per cent year-on-year (YoY). The network's operating EBITDA stood at Rs 304 crore compared to Rs 263 crore for the corresponding quarter last year, and Rs 364 crore in the previous quarter, which is Q3 FY22.  

The operating EBITDA margin stood at 24.8 per cent for the quarter, compared to 24.1 per cent in the corresponding period in FY21 and 27.6 per cent in Q3 FY22. The operating EBITDA per bed grew by 21 per cent YoY.  Profit after tax for the quarter stood at Rs 172 crore compared to Rs 109 crore in Q4 last year and Rs 252 crore in Q3 FY22.  

During the quarter, the company said it had executed two inorganic growth transactions which will add over 700 beds to its network capacity in the next few years, located in the micro-markets of Delhi-NCR. This includes over 300 bed hospital in Sector-10, Dwarka on an asset light model and over 400 bed hospital in Patparganj, East Delhi, where the existing network facility has been reporting occupancies of 80 per cent in the last few years.  

Max Lab, the company’s non-captive pathology business vertical business, added around 60 channel partners during Q4 FY22, taking the overall active clients to 760 spread across around 25 cities; revenue grew by 40 per cent YoY and 11 per cent quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) driven by Covid-19 spike in the first half of Q4 FY22. Of this, the Non-Covid revenue growth stood at 60% year over year and 2% quarter over quarter.

Max's home healthcare services Max@Home's revenue during the quarter was Rs 28 crore, similar to Q3 levels and reflected a growth of 21 per cent YoY. Max@Home also launched a free helpline for Covid-19 patients during the quarter.

For FY22, the network's gross revenue stood at Rs 5,509 crore representing a growth of around 42 per cent over FY21. This includes revenue of Rs 236 crore from COVID-19 vaccination and related antibody tests. The network operating EBITDA more than doubled during the fiscal, and stood at Rs 1,390 crore. This includes EBITDA of Rs 85 crore from COVID-19 vaccination and related antibody tests. The Operating margin for FY22 was 26.6 per cent, a sharp improvement from 17.5 per cent in FY21.

“Overall, FY22 has been an eventful year where despite numerous challenges, there is a marked improvement in the Network performance. We closed FY22 with the Network Operating EBITDA of Rs 1,390 Crores, which is more than double of INR 636 Cr in FY21,” said Abhay Soi, chairman and MD, Max Healthcare.

“In addition, as part of our inorganic growth strategy, we have announced four transactions, including purchase of two prime land parcels in Gurugram. These will have a combined potential to add over 2,200 beds in the coming years in addition to the ongoing brownfield expansions,” he added.  
 

 

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