Lanka Hospitals to start facility in Seychelles
The Lanka Hospitals PLC (LHPL) is eyeing setting up a facility in Seychelles and plans to commence work on it this year, top officials say.
"This will be a pilot project for Lanka Hospitals and progress will be monitored carefully to refine it further for replication in other locations," LHPL Chairman Dr. Sarath Paranavithana has said in his annual review.
An ageing demographic, high incidence of non-communicable diseases, declining fertility rates and increasing levels of awareness of the benefits of good health and wellbeing provide significant opportuni- ties for growth and shaping the role of the hospital, he has said. LHPL has invested Rs. 600 million in upgrading technology and plan to invest a further Rs. 200 million in expansion of facilities in the country in 2018.
Lanka Hospitals – in an agreement with the Health Care Agency of Seychelles – is providing specialised services in Cardiology, Neurology, Urology, Oncology, Gynaecology and Obstetrics at Lanka Hospitals. So far the Colombo hospital has treated 178 patients from peripheral hospitals in Seychelles.
"We also perceive opportunities to expand our services outside the Western Province as there is a significant disparity in service indicators between the Western Province and others," Dr. Paranavithana has said. The hospital explored opportunities in medical tourism attracting tourists from Maldives, Bangladesh, India, Seychelles, China and the Middle East, in line with the state agenda to promote medical tourism.
"Expansion is a priority and we have commenced implementation of the same in 2018. They include investment in a new 12 storeyed building, establishing a minimum of 10 satellite offices around the country and establishing a medical branch in Seychelles. We will continue to optimise utilisation of our current facilities as well to drive revenue growth and expand our service menu. Private Health sector expenditure is expected to maintain an upward trend due to growth in non- communicable diseases and high levels of awareness of the benefits of good health and well-being," Dr. Paranavitane has said.
The revenue growth was a mere 8 per cent stymied by the epidemic of dengue which resulted in high levels of occupancy and human resources but lower utilisation of LHPL's diagnostic and treatment infrastructure. "This also impacted margins together with costs associated with JCI re-accreditation and obtaining accreditation from the College of American Pathologists. Despite these challenges, gross profit increased by a modest 2.7 per cent. Administrative expenses and other operating expenses increased by 12 per cent and 13 per cent respectively due to inflation and increased level of administrative activity, reducing operating margins. Consequently, operating profit decreased by 19 per cent to Rs. 729 million, "Dr. Prasad Medawatte, Group CEO has said in his statement.
The charge for taxation increased from Rs. 109 million in 2016 to Rs. 341 million due to the change in the rate of tax which increased from 12 per cent to 28 per cent. Accordingly, the charge for the year increased from Rs. 109 million to Rs. 341 million while the impact of the rate increase on deferred tax amounted to Rs. 252 million for the current year. This resulted in a dramatic decline of 40 per cent in profit for the year which amounted to Rs. 581 million for 2017 in comparison to Rs. 972 million for 2016.