Cape Town - Private healthcare group Mediclinic International said on Wednesday that it had budgeted £281 million (R4.81 billion) for capital expenditure projects in Switzerland, South Africa and the Middle East - a region which was key for its future growth.
The capital expenditure war chest comprised of £118 million in Hirslanden, £71 million in Mediclinic Southern Africa and £92 million in Mediclinic Middle East.
Danie Meintjes, chief executive of Mediclinic International, said demand for Mediclinic’s services across its platforms remains robust, underpinned by an ageing population, growing disease burden and technological innovation.
“Mediclinic continues to invest in its people, patient facilities and the technology within the facilities. The group’s growing international scale also enables it to unlock further value through promoting collaboration and best practice between its operating platforms and to extract further synergies and cost-efficiencies,” Meintjes said.
He said the group would appoint 52 doctors in the Middle East, after it had employed 136 for the year ended March. The group had in the period been opening new facilities in Abu Dhabi.
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Meintjes said the company would also move to bolster its Southern Africa operations with six capital projects expected to be completed in the second half of this year, with a further 8 planned in the next two years.
The group’s total revenue for the year under review was up 30 percent to £2.7 billion, while its Southern Africa revenue increased by 7 percent to R14.3 billion. Its operating profit for the year under review grew by 26 percent to £362 million.
Under performance
The group’s underlying earnings per share slid by 19 percent to 29.8 pence, which it attributed to the under performance of its Abu Dhabi business. The group has proposed a total dividend of 7.90 pence for the year.
Meintjes said it was important for the group to integrate the Abu Dhabi-based Al Noor Hospitals Group with the established Mediclinic Middle East business in Dubai.
“The project commenced in April 2017 and due to regulatory requirements, is expected to take approximately one year to complete.
"As a result of the re-branding decision, an accelerated amortisation charge of 36 million UAE dirhams (R129.2 million) in connection with the acquired Al Noor trade name asset has been recognised in this financial year,” Meintjes said.