NMC Health (NMC) is set to join the FTSE 100 after its interim results sent shares soaring to their all-time high. In the six months to June the Middle East’s largest hospital provider treated nearly 3m patients, who spent, on average, 8.2 per cent more than in last year's first half. This sent adjusted cash profits at the healthcare division up 47 per cent to $169m (£130m).
Organic revenue growth of 13 per cent (estimated by Investec analysts) was supplemented by acquisitions and an acceleration in occupancy growth at recently opened hospitals. The Al Zahra Hospital in Sharjah contributed $52m in its first five months within the NMC portfolio and now has 154 active in-patient beds. The largely UAE-based group’s largest hospital, the NMC Royal – which opened in March last year – grew patient numbers faster than expected. And recently acquired assets in Oman and Saudi Arabia, two new geographies, are trading in line with expectations.
Further growth is expected in the second half due to favourable regulatory changes in Abu Dhabi and the rollout of mandatory health insurance in Dubai. As a result, analysts at Investec think NMC will have no trouble reaching its full-year financial targets. The broker is expected to upgrade pre-tax profits and EPS forecasts for the year to December 2017, currently standing at $230m and 96.9ȼ (up from $169m and 78.1ȼ in 2016).
| NMC (NMC) | ||||
| ORD PRICE: | 2,662p | MARKET VALUE: | £5.44bn | |
| TOUCH: | 2661-2663p | 12-MONTH HIGH / LOW: | 2,689p | 1,278p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD**: | 0.4% | PE RATIO: | 43 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 480ȼ* | NET DEBT: | 102% | |
| Half-year to 30 Jun | Turnover ($m) | Pre-tax profit ($m) | Earnings per share (ȼ) | Dividend per share (p) |
| 2016 | 578 | 71.2 | 33.6 | nil |
| 2017 | 775 | 99.3 | 42.9 | nil |
| % change | +34 | +40 | +28 | - |
| Ex-div: | na | |||
| Payment: | na | |||
*Includes intangible assets of $1.1bn, or 555ȼ a share £1=$1.30 **Full-year dividend of 10.6p paid in respect of 2016 | ||||
