NMC Health, a leading integrated private healthcare provider in the UAE, has reported a net profit of $151.4 million for 2016, a 76.5 per cent increase on previous year’s figures.

The group’s revenues increased by 38.6 per cent to $1,220.8 million, it said in a statement.

NMC Health is also one of the top global providers of fertility treatments through its Spanish subsidiary Clinica Eugin.

The healthcare division accounted for a revenue of $823.3 million, an increase of 59.2 per cent compared to 2015. The distribution division revenue grew by 9.8 per cent to $431.9 million.

The reported EBITDA increased by 63.7 per cent to $246.1 million, it said. The earnings per share (EPS) amounted to $0.711 (FY 2015: $0.443)

The healthcare division’s number of patients increased by 34.5 per cent to 4.3 million and revenue per patient from healthcare services increased by 28.3 per cent to reach $176.3.

Operational beds increased from 537 to 679, a 26.4 per cent increase and bed occupancy rates reached 74.3 per cent.

Doctors’ employed by the group reached 1042 in 2016, an increase of 27.5 per cent compared to 2015.

Dr B.R. Shetty, chief executive officer and executive vice-chairman of NMC, commented: “NMC Health delivered record growth in 2016 as we began to reap the long-term rewards of several years of progress on the two stages of our growth strategy. In recent years NMC has expanded its asset and brand portfolio organically and inorganically into additional healthcare services segments, extended our presence across the continuum of care, entered into higher growth and margin specialties with very favourable regional supply/demand dynamics, and selectively entered new geographies to position the group at the intersection of multiple growth channels to the ultimate benefit of all our stakeholders.”

Outlook
“We expect another good year for the UAE economy in 2017 supported by further GDP growth of around 2.3 per cent despite lower oil prices, based on forecasts by leading rating agencies. For the local healthcare sector, one of the key drivers of growth will be the increase in the patient volumes with expected completion of mandatory healthcare insurance in the Emirate of Dubai by Q1 2017. For NMC in particular, we expect continued strong performance from our enlarged network, its growing specialisms and the further introduction of higher value added services especially through our single specialty verticals,” said Dr Shetty. - TradeArabia News Service