By BERNAMA
IHH Healthcare Bhd’s pre-tax profit for the second quarter ended June 30, 2013 declined to RM208.14 million from RM502.51 million in the same quarter a year earlier.
Revenue fell to RM1.68 billion from RM2.69 billion previously. For the six months ended June 30, 2013, IHH’s pre-tax profit declined to RM421.73 million from RM720.76 million in the same period last year.
Its revenue decreased to RM3.31 billion from RM3.95 billion previously. IHH Managing Director, Dr Lim Cheok Peng, in a teleconference with reporters here today, said the performance was lower than prior year due to higher base in 2012 resulting from recognition of the sales of medical suites.
He said the board would issue a dividend policy in the fourth quarter. Dr Lim said IHH has a healthy pipeline of new projects in Malaysia and Turkey that were progressing on schedule and were expected to boost patient volume and revenue growth upon completion.
“IHH currently operates over 4,700 beds and will add another 3,300 beds over the next three years until 2016. Up to 2017, it will have over 8,000 beds and 46 hospitals, including the Hong Kong operations with 500 beds,” he said.
However, the continuous investments in new operations in the short term would incur start-up costs, depreciation and finance costs that may erode overall profitability, he said.
On a positive note, Dr Lim said Mount Elizabeth Novena Hospital and Parkway Pantai, Singapore new capacities as well as higher utilisation of Acibadem Ankara and Bodrum hospitals in Turkey would contribute to the group’s earnings.
“We remain mindful of the near-term macroeconomic challenges and will continue to actively manage costs,” Dr Lim said. He said a significant currency volatility in the markets could lead to translation differences in the group’s balance sheet and income statement.
Medical travellers from Indonesia and Malaysia to Singapore had also declined in the short term as a result of the strong Singapore dollar, he said.
“We can’t avoid this in the short term but we hope the exchange rate will go back to normal because the industry remains resilient,” he said.
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