India’s Apollo posts quarterly profit rise on strong healthcare demand 

BENGALURU/HYDERABAD, May 20 (Reuters) – India’s Apollo Hospitals Enterprise reported a 36% quarterly profit rise on Wednesday, helped by strong demand for complex medical procedures and growth across its pharmacy and digital health businesses.

Apollo, which has a network with more than 10,900 beds, is expanding capacity through new hospital launches and across key urban centres to meet rising demand for specialised healthcare in the world’s most populous country.

The hospital chain operator’s healthcare services division, which accounts for the bulk of its revenue, continued to anchor growth, supported by steady patient volumes and higher realisation, Apollo said.

The company flagged traction in its international patient business, supported by partnerships across the Middle East, Africa and South Asia.

Its pharmacy and digital health businesses also gained momentum, the company said.

Hospital occupancy stood at 68%, compared with about 67% a year earlier.

Revenue from the healthcare services segment rose 16% to 32.68 billion rupees ($337.5 million) for the three months ended March while overall revenue advanced 18% to 66.05 billion rupees.

Consolidated net profit rose to 5.29 billion rupees, beating analysts’ expectations of 4.79 billion rupees, according to LSEG data.

($1 = 96.8200 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Pranav Kashyap in Bengaluru; Editing by Ronojoy Mazumdar and Mrigank Dhaniwala)