LIFE Healthcare Group is awaiting government approvals for its offer to train 1 500 nurses to help plug South Africa’s spiking shortage of nurses, the company said yeserday as it reported a decline in per share earnings despite stronger revenues for the full year period ended March 31.
Shares in the company marginally firmed by 1.6 percent to R18.7 in afternoon trade on the JSE, but remained 20.8 percent lower in the year-to-date comparative.
Earnings per share in Life Healthcare for the full year to end March were 25.8 percent lower at 41.5 cents attributable to “the disposal of Scanmed and the ending of some Covid-19-related support services” provided in the UK and Italy.
Revenues, nonetheless, firmed by 4.2 percent R13.4 billion, boosted by strong earnings from the southern Africa region made up of South Africa and Botswana.
The stronger revenue outturn pointed to “operational resilience” and signs of “improving demand” for healthcare services as the world slowly emerges from the Covid-19 pandemic.
Revenues from the southern Africa market was 4.5 percent higher at R9.5bn, while the international category also had a nearly 2 percent rise in revenues to R3.8bn.
Life Healthcare chief executive, Peter Wharton-Hood, said: “We continue to see reduced levels of disruption caused by the recent Covid waves.
“This coupled with opening of our economies, increasing work from the office momentum and other signs of returning to normality have driven an encouraging recovery in healthcare demand.”
In South Africa, Life Healthcare has now offered to train nurses. The company said it had “committed to train 1 500 nurses over a three-year cycle, subject to approvals” from the authorities.
Healthcare professionals remain a core pillar of the company’s business, hence its decision to invest in the necessary human capital, said Adam Pyle, Life Healthcare chief executive for southern Africa.
“This comes amid a sector wide call to address the shortage of nurses in South Africa, estimated to be between 20 000 and 60 000 in South Africa,” it added.
Since mid-January, Life Healthcare said, it had recorded strong recovery in demand for its surgical and medical activities in the acute hospitals segment. The company has now projected the southern African operations to continue recording volume and occupancy improvement.
According to Pyle, growth initiatives for the South Africa market are expected to gather momentum, after Life Medicare completed the purchase of the non-clinical operations of East Coast Radiology business at the beginning of February this year.
“Life Healthcare Group also signed a joint venture agreement with Axim to initially build two cyclotrons in South Africa,” said Pyle.
Internationally, the company expects to see continued good growth from the demand for AMG’s diagnostic imaging services in the UK, Italy, and Ireland. These markets “delivered higher scan volumes than in the previous period”, explained Mark Chapman, chief executive for Life Healthcare international markets.
The division is pursuing an opportunity in developing Community Diagnostic Centres (CDCs) in partnership with the UK’s National Health Service (NHS). This feeds into the company’s international focus on long-term public private partnership solutions.
“CDCs provide a convenient solution in delivering imaging services closer to where people live. We have three CDCs operational and three under construction with a strong pipeline,” added Chapman.
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