Browse through pictures of new hospitals in the Middle East and it's hard not to be impressed. Sure, the palm trees and blue skies create the kind of backdrop Watford General Hospital just can't achieve, but the interiors are also state of the art. NMC's (NMC) new Royal Hospital in Abu Dhabi is one of these new builds. Opened last year, the speciality hospital has added an extra 250 beds to NMC's portfolio, which helped drive group revenue over the $1bn (£0.8bn) mark for the first time.
Expansion and investment has been a big theme for the Middle East hospital operator in recent years. Although local reports suggest the market may be becoming overcrowded, this didn't show in NMC's results. Bed occupancy rates were up across all three of the group's healthcare sectors, helping send revenue from this division up by 59 per cent to $823m.
Management admits some of the new openings have had an adverse effect on margins, but this didn't show in group numbers. Cash profit margins actually rose by 309 basis points thanks to a greater mix of speciality care, sending cash profit up by two-thirds to $246m.
With another large acquisition due to complete by the end of March, the outlook for 2017 looks positive.
NMC (NMC) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 1,791p | MARKET VALUE: | £3.66bn | |
| TOUCH: | 1,790-1,792p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 1,857p | LOW: 878p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 0.5% | PE RATIO: | 31 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 444ȼ* | NET DEBT | 45% | |
| Year to 31 Dec | Turnover ($bn) | Pre-tax profit ($m) | Earnings per share (ȼ) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 0.49 | 59.8 | 34.3 | 4.1 |
| 2013 | 0.55 | 69.1 | 36.7 | 4.4 |
| 2014 | 0.64 | 77.5 | 41.2 | 5.4 |
| 2015 | 0.88 | 85.4 | 44.3 | 6.2 |
| 2016 | 1.22 | 152 | 71.1 | 10.6 |
| % change | +39 | +78 | +60 | +71 |
Ex-div: 11 May Payment: 2 Jun *Includes intangible assets of $653m, or 320ȼ a share £1=$1.22 | ||||
