Chalking out a growth plan for Apollo Hospitals Enterprise, Managing Director Suneeta Reddy guided that occupancy for the company's core hospital business will reach 70 percent by the end of FY24.
The company's core hospital business has recorded an improved occupancy that rose to 64 percent by the fourth-quarter of FY23. The bed occupancy rate for the January-March period, however, were lower than the 70 percent anticipated by Apollo Hospitals in its third quarter earnings call. The management attributed lower occupancy to a weak seasonality affect in Q4 as several holidays in Southern India fall during that quarter.
Despite the miss, the management has come up with plans to take its occupancy numbers even higher. Reddy explained that the healthcare services company plans on achieving its occupancy target by reducing its reliance on institutional patients and increasing focus on international patients, recruitment of more doctors and improving the payor mix. The company will also rely on further leveraging its corporate relationship which Reddy feels will drive further growth.
She also revealed that the hospital business has also started getting patients from its Apollo 24*7 arm, having created a reliable funnel for the flow of patients.
Also Read: Apollo Hospitals Q4 net profit rises 50.5% to Rs 146 crore, lags estimate
The company also plans on adding 2,000 more beds by FY27, by adding newer hospitals with around 700 beds each. However, this capital expenditure will likely be embarked on from FY25 onwards, after the investments towards the Apollo HealthCo and Apollo 24*7 arms come to an end.
Also giving an update on the Apollo 24*7, Reddy said that the arm achieved a gross merchandise value (GMV) of Rs 1,643 crore for FY23, with an on-year growth of 266 percent over FY 22 and delivering on the company's guidance to exceed a GMV of Rs 1,500 crore in the fiscal.
The platform has over 25 million registered users and was on track to achieve further GMV and revenue growth. "The Apollo 24*7 arm is also poised to breakeven at an entity level by the fourth quarter of FY24," Reddy highlighted.
Also Read: Apollo Hospitals’ digital business revenue set to improve: MD Suneeta Reddy
Meanwhile, as guided in the previous quarter, the company is reducing investments towards its Apollo Health Co business. "We acknowledge the short term concerns around the cash burn in Apollo Health Co, hence, several measures have been initiated that will reduce costs by Rs 135-150 crores," Reddy said.
The reduction in investment towards Apollo Health Co is likely to ease some pressure on the company's operating margins in the coming quarters.
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