IHH posts quarterly net loss on dip in patient volume

PETALING JAYA: IHH Healthcare Bhd slipped into the red in the first quarter ended March 30 as the largest private healthcare provider in Asia recorded its worst quarterly net loss since its listing in 2012.

A decrease in patient volume due to Covid-19, Rm400.5mil impairment on its investment into Global Hospitals in India and Rm60mil foreign exchange (forex) losses relating to its investment in Khubchandani Hospitals in India were the major reasons for IHH’S net loss of Rm319.79mil in the January-march 2020 period.

In comparison, the group posted a net profit of Rm89.51mil a year earlier.

Without the exceptional items namely the Rm400.5mil impairment and Rm60mil forex losses, IHH said it would have posted a net profit of Rm189.4mil.

Meanwhile, IHH’S revenue in the first quarter ended March 31 declined by 2.4% year-on-year to Rm3.56bil, as compared to Rm3.64bil in the same quarter of the previous financial year.

According to the group, patients postponed non-urgent and non-essential treatment and visits to hospitals and healthcare facilities as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

It also saw a decrease in foreign patient volume especially from March 2020 onwards due to the various travel restrictions implemented across the countries that it operates.

“The first quarter of financial year 2020 (1Q20) revenue also decreased from a high base in 1Q19 whereby the group recognised a one-off Rm28.5mil trustee management fee income from RHT relating to disposal of RHT assets in 1Q19,” it said.

It pointed out that the decrease in revenue was partially mitigated by Covid-19-related services that it rendered. The healthcare group registered a loss per share of 3.9 sen in the quarter ended March 31, 2020, as compared to an earnings per share of 0.78 sen a year earlier. No dividend was declared for the first quarter.