Last checked at 
LONDON (Alliance News) - Mediclinic International PLC on Wednesday said it had traded in line with its expectations in its most recently ended financial year and said its focus is now on the smooth integration of Al Noor Hospitals following the completion of the reverse takeover that merged the two earlier this year.
South African company reported a pretax profit of GBP245 million for the year to end-March, compared to a restated pretax profit of GBP266 million the previous year, on revenue of GBP2.11 billion, up from GBP1.98 billion. The figures compare the combined group with Mediclinic alone the previous year, translated into sterling.
On an underlying basis, which strips out exceptional costs, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation rose to GBP428 million from GBP403 million.
Mediclinic said the year had been one of the most significant in its history, including the reverse takeover of United Arab Emirates-focused private healthcare group Al Noor and buying up a nearly 30% stake in London-listed Spire Healthcare Group PLC, as well as securing a FTSE 100 listing.
Mediclinic proposed a final dividend of 5.24 pence per share, taking its total dividend for the year to 7.90p, down from 9.33p the year before. The company said that, following the reverse takeover of Al Noor it had reviewed and amended its dividend policy to target a pay-out ratio of between 25% and 30%. It said it may revise this policy from time to time.
The company said its Swiss operations, Hirslanden, saw revenue rise to GBP1.13 billion from GBP1.04 billion, helped by a 0.5% rise in inpatient revenue per case, with inpatient numbers up 4.9%.
In South Africa, revenue was up 9% in local currency terms, helped by a 1.3% increase in admissions, a 2.9% rise in bed days sold and a 6.3% increase in revenue per bed day. However, revenue fell 6% in sterling terms to GBP691 million from GBP649 million due to weakness in the rand.
Middle East operations saw revenue rise to GBP479 million from GBP242 million, not including Al Noor, helped by an increase in admissions of 3.0%, bed days occupied of 5.7%, and a 1.8% rise in outpatient and accident and emergencies attendance. Al Noor produced revenue of GBP50 million since its inclusion in the group in February to the end of March.
As Spire's financial year is in line with the calender year, and as it does not issue publicly available quarterly financial information, income from Spire was not recognised for the three months to end-March, Mediclinic said.
For the year ahead, Mediclinic expects modest growth at stable margins at Hirslanden, and continued growth at Mediclinic Southern Africa notwithstanding macro-economic challenges and increased competition.
Mediclinic said the integration of Al Noor is well underway, and cost synergies have been identified, although they will be partially offset by new project start up costs and incremental operational investment. This business is expected to deliver continued strong growth, Mediclinic said, supported by increased capacity and beneficial underlying demographics.
"We are pleased to announce trading for the year has been in line with management's expectations. The group continues to deliver against its key performance indicators with growth in patient activity across all platforms at stable margins. With the Al Noor transaction completing on 15 February, we are now focused on the smooth integration of the business," said Chief Executive Officer Danie Meintjes in a statement.
"We expect an increase in demand for cost-effective quality hospital services and increasingly complex clinical services to continue leading to further volume growth. In line with industry trends, we are continuing to see the impact on our business of on-going regulatory initiatives and increasing competition," Meintjes added.
Shares in Mediclinic were up 0.1% at 858.00 pence Wednesday afternoon, having risen to an intraday high of 876.00 pence earlier in the session.
By Hana Stewart-Smith; hanassmith@alliancenews.com; @HanaSSAllNews
Copyright 2016 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
