Max Healthcare plans Rs 1,700 cr capex over next 4 years; aims to be debt-free by Q3FY22

Max Healthcare posted a strong set of Q1 earnings on Tuesday, aided by COVID occupancy, non-COVID recovery as well as vaccinations. Revenue is up 19 percent on a sequential basis and operating EBITDA is at the highest ever for the third consecutive quarter.

The company reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 146.92 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2021. The company had posted a net loss of Rs 314.25 crore for the corresponding period of the previous fiscal. Consolidated total income of the company stood at Rs 1,026.13 crore for the quarter under consideration. It was at Rs 275.58 crore for the same period a year ago.

"We are proud of the role our doctors and paramedical staff have played in the fight against COVID-19, including accelerating the inoculation drive in the country. Overall, we believe we are well placed to deliver consistent growth by adhering to the highest standard of clinical excellence," said Abhay Soi, Chairman and MD of Max Healthcare Institute.

On debt reduction plan, he said, “We believe there will be significant debt reduction within this current quarter and hopefully by next quarter, we will be a debt-free company.”

On COVID and non-COVID patients, Soi said, “We saw a huge spike in COVID patients in Q1. 42 percent of our beds were allocated to COVID which saw a 76 percent occupancy, whilst the non-COVID patients accounted for 58 percent of the balance beds, with 84 percent occupancy. The COVID revenues were approximately Rs 320 crore, you add vaccination revenues of another Rs 136 crore so that is where we were as far as the COVID revenues are concerned.”

On capex, Soi said, “Currently we have an operating maintenance capex of about Rs 120 crore a year, we have very little interest cost left, so you will see a huge amount of free cashflows within the year itself. Our capex plans are about Rs 1,500-1,700 crore over the next four years. We intend to use our residual free cashflows as well as our ability to raise debt to look at inorganic growth and acquisitions.”