Shares of Max Healthcare Institute Ltd. declined as much as 7% on Friday, May 22, reacting to their fourth quarter earnings results. According to reports from CNBC TV18, the stock is looking to recover from the lows of the day after reporting a subdued performance for the March quarter. The company's profit of ₹387 crore was up 3% from the previous year's ₹376 crore but fell short of street expectations of ₹416.9 crore. The stock is currently trading 4.4% lower at ₹1,042.6, with the company also turning negative on a year-to-date basis after Friday's fall.
For the quarter, Max Healthcare's revenue came in at ₹2,541 crore, up 10% from the previous year's ₹2,326 crore. However, this growth was lower than the street's expectations of 14% topline growth. The company's margins contracted to 26.8% from 27.2% in the year-ago period, though they were higher than street estimates of 25.2%. As reported by CNBC TV18, clinician costs increased by 230 basis points, leading to the margin contraction. The company attributed part of the weakness to a decline in the contribution from its oncology business.
The company's oncology division's share dropped to 21% from 26% last year and 24% sequentially due to the discontinuation of select chemotherapy drugs for institutional patients. According to CNBC TV18, the company's EBITDA per bed was at ₹73.4 lakh compared to ₹73.9 lakh last year and ₹71.3 lakh in the previous quarter. Max Labs revenue increased 14% to ₹52 crore from ₹46 crore in the previous year, with margins expanding to 17% from 14% last year and 13% sequentially. The company's EBITDA per operational bed stood at ₹73.4 lakh during the quarter, compared with ₹73.9 lakh a year ago, though it improved from ₹71.3 lakh in the December quarter.
The Max@Home segment showed strong performance with revenue up 30% to ₹73 crore from ₹56 crore in the fourth quarter last year and from ₹68 crore in the previous quarter. As reported by CNBC TV18, this growth demonstrates the company's expanding digital health services. Despite the softer performance in its core hospital business, ancillary segments delivered healthy growth. The company also received positive regulatory news with the Competition Commission of India issuing directions for closure of 10-year old anti-competition proceedings against 12 major hospitals, half of which are from the Max Chain.
