Mediclinic earnings up as it continues Al Noor integration

International private healthcare group Mediclinic announced its interim results for the six months to 30 September on Thursday, with a 27% increase in group revenue to £1.28bn, of which 16% was contributed by Al Noor.

The FTSE 100 firm posted a strong performance in Switzerland with revenue up 5% and underlying EBITDA up 7%.

It also claimed good organic growth in Southern Africa supported by infrastructure investment, though its Middle East business was impacted by a new insurance co-payment requirement, doctor vacancies and delayed facility openings.

Mediclinic said the integration of Al Noor was on track to deliver AED75m of annualised synergies.

On the financial front, underlying EBITDA was up 11% to £220m and operating profit grew 10% to £169m.

Underlying earnings per share decreased by 26% to 12.8p, which the board said was largely impacted by the shares issued to acquire and adverse operating performance of Al Noor.

Cash flow conversion was 95% of underlying EBITDA.

Mediclinic’s board declared an interim dividend per ordinary share up to 3.2p, from 2.66p at the same time last year.

It said it was making continued investments to improve patient experience and clinical quality.

“We have seen good progress across the group in the first half of the year,” said CEO Danie Meintjes.

“Switzerland in particular had strong revenue and underlying EBITDA growth driven by an increase in total patient activity.”

In the Middle East, Meintjes said the company had a productive first half of the year, successfully opening the City Hospital North Wing in Dubai, with business integration progressing well.

“In Abu Dhabi, the recent introduction of Thiqa co-payment has further impacted our near term expectations for Thiqa revenues.

“We continue to believe in the long-term growth opportunity the Middle East presents to the group.”

Meintjes said that while the industry trends of growing competition and regulatory changes remained challenging across all of Mediclinic’s platforms, the board was highly focused on investing in and delivering high quality patient-centric clinical care.

“With this focus and our leading positions in core markets, Mediclinic is well-positioned to deliver sustainable long-term growth.”