Life Healthcare bids farewell to its chief executive
JSE-LISTED private hospital group, Life Healthcare, will undertake its expansion plans without its current chief executive, André Meyer, who had decided to leave the group at the end of this month.
He leaves the company barely a month after the group had reported that its headline earnings per share had declined by 71.3 percent to 26 cents in the six months ended March, while its earnings per share plummeted 85.3 percent to 13.7c in the period.
The group had attributed the decline in profits to its R14.5 billion acquisition of Alliance Medical in November.
It said yesterday that Meyer had done well in his post and helped the group with its expansion plans. “The board would like to thank André for his contribution over the last three years and wishes him well in his future endeavours,” the company said.
Meyer would be replaced by the group’s current chief financial officer, Pieter van der Westhuizen, as acting chief, while a search for a permanent chief executive was under way.
Meyertook the reins of chief executive three years ago, and undertook a multi-billion rand expansion and acquisitions drive, shrugging off stiff domestic competition and the flagging economy.
Preceding the acquisition of Alliance Medical, the group in 2014 acquired Poland’s leading healthcare company, Scanmed Multimedi, for R427 million. Meyer’s aim was to increase the group’s revenue outside its home market to about 20 to 30 percent by 2020, a mission that would now fall into the hands of his successor.
Meyer said that after nearly 20 years in the healthcare industry, it was time that he changed course and focused on new opportunities.
“I have enjoyed the challenges and opportunities afforded to me during my tenure as chief executive. The group now enjoys a global footprint and investments in a broader range of strategic services outside of the acute care market and is well positioned across the full continuum of healthcare service delivery,” Mayer said.
With the group’s income from South Africa currently estimated to constitute 95 percent of its total revenue, Meyer’s eventual successor would have his work cut out to catch up with international advances made by rivals, Mediclinic and Netcare, which both earn significant revenue from their international operations.
Mediclinic’s Middle East business accounted for 24 percent of the group’s revenues for the year ended March, while its Swiss business made up for 48 percent of the group’s revenues in the period.
For the six months ended March, Netcare’s revenue from its UK business came in at £458m (R7.53bn) aganist the R9.2bn it recorded in its home market in the period.
Life Healthcare Group shares rose 0.34 percent on the JSE yesterday to close at R26.63.