Gulf hospital operator NMC Health (NMC) has spent a lot of time on the acquisition hunt lately, completing four deals since the start of December 2015. Besides a larger portfolio, the deals mean a greater range of services, particularly in the complex care arena. This played to the group's favour in the reported period as the provision of more specialist care options along with more fertility services helped to boost revenue per patient by 35 per cent to $170.
Patient numbers also rose, aided by a stable macro environment in the UAE as medical insurance provision expands in the country. Overall this helped boost the top line by almost half, the highest growth the company has ever seen.
Much of this growth came from the healthcare division, which now makes up two-thirds of the overall revenue (compared to less than 50 per cent when the company floated in 2012). This trend is beneficial to NMC as margins are substantially higher in healthcare compared with the distribution business. Overall, group margins jumped by 250 basis points to 20 per cent, helping to push adjusted cash profits up by 68 per cent to $116m.
Analysts at Investec have forecast pre-tax profits of $172m and EPS of 78.2ȼ for the financial year to December 2016, compared with $97.6m and 50.6ȼ in 2015.
NMC HEALTH (NMC) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 1,321p | MARKET VALUE: | £2.45bn | |
| TOUCH: | 1,329-1,321p | 12-MONTHHIGH: | 1,347p | LOW: 695p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 0.4% | PE RATIO: | 31 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 289ȼ* | NET DEBT: | 139% | |
| Half-year to 30 Jun | Turnover ($m) | Pre-tax profit ($m) | Earnings per share (ȼ) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 394 | 41.5 | 21.3 | nil |
| 2016 | 578 | 71.2 | 33.6 | nil |
| % change | +47 | +71 | +58 | - |
Ex-div: na Payment: na *Includes intangible assets of $658m, or 354ȼ a share £1=$1.32 | ||||
