With 18 straight quarters of growth, aggressive capacity expansion, and rising international traction, Abhay Soi, CMD of Max Healthcare, talks about growth levers driving the company toward ambitious 10,000-bed milestone. Edited excerpts:
How did Q4FY25 earnings pan out?
Q4FY25 has been the 18th consecutive quarter of year-on-year growth for us, and this has been in line with our expectations. We saw a 29% increase in revenue, 26% rise in Ebitda, and a 21% growth in profit after tax.
In the last one year, we strategically acquired three hospitals. Two in the beginning of the year—we acquired Alexis Hospital Nagpur (now Max Nagpur) and Sahara Hospital Lucknow (Max Lucknow).
Later in the year, in November, we completed the acquisition of Jaypee Hospital (now Max Hospital, Noida). These acquisitions have helped us ramp up our capacity by nearly 30%.
What is the outlook on Ebitda per bed, occupancy levels, ARPOB (Average Revenue Per Occupied Bed) in FY26?
If we look at Ebitda per bed for existing hospitals on a like-to-like basis, we have seen an 8% increase, bringing it to around Rs 78 lakh.
This excludes Max Hospital, Dwarka, the new hospital that we started last year.
It broke even in a record time of six months. So, obviously it currently is low on Ebitda. This dragged overall Ebitda per bed down.
However, Ebitda per bed for matured hospitals has actually gone up.
For newly acquired hospitals, in the first year of operations itself under the new management, we have been able to increase Ebitda by close to 90% between Nagpur and Lucknow. It is 106% in Lucknow and 56-57% in Nagpur.
We are looking for both hospitals to gain momentum in FY26. Max Hospital, Dwarka, is going to ramp up as well.
Margins are only going to expand in the current year. And then we have the Jaypee hospital, which we acquired in November last year, which will also ramp up. Besides, we are set to add nearly 1,000 beds through brownfield capacity expansion.
Additional capacity is coming up at Nanavati Max in Mumbai, Max Mohali, and Max Saket in Delhi.
Towards the end of the year, we will also commission a new 500-bed greenfield hospital in Gurugram.
So, we are looking at another 30% increase in capacity almost entirely through brownfields this year.
From 5,000 beds currently where do you see the count at the end of FY26?
Well, we are adding 1,500 beds, so from 5,000 we will get to 6,500 by the end of FY26.
We will have 9,000 beds by calendar year 2028. Last year, we made three acquisitions. I am sure over the next three years we will do plenty more.
So, I mean, with both organic and inorganic expansion, I have no doubt we will reach 10,000 beds.
What is the outlook on growth for Max@Home and Max Labs?
On an annual basis, both businesses have grown around 22%. We expect them to continue to grow between 21-22 and 24- 25% quarter-on-quarter for many quarters and this is without any inorganic growth.
Importantly, both businesses are profitable. We are confident about the trajectory as far as both these businesses are concerned.
Are rising Covid cases in the Southeast Asian countries leading to a spike in admissions or tests?
There has been an increase in Covid cases as far as Singapore and Hong Kong are concerned but there is a ramp up on a small base.
Having said that, this number has been growing in India as well but there are no severe cases, the current strain is not anything to significantly worry about.
What are the three key growth drivers for FY26?
First, we are benefiting from strong macroeconomic tailwinds.
We are marching towards becoming a $5 trillion economy. India’s growing per capita income, driven by a young and aspirational population, is increasing affordability and raising expectations for quality healthcare.
Despite this, we remain significantly underpenetrated in terms of high-quality healthcare infrastructure. This presents a major opportunity.
The second big driver that we have is from a medical tourism standpoint. The cost and the skill sets that we offer in India, no other country in the world comes even close, there is a significant comparative advantage we have and we need to tap this a little more. The third growth driver is, which is more sort of inherent to Max, capacity addition.
With the combination of strong domestic demand, rising international inflow, and our ability to add capacity at scale, we are well-positioned to accelerate growth in FY26 and beyond.
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