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(Alliance News) - Spire Healthcare Group PLC on Thursday kept its dividend flat for 2019, as the private hospital operator swung to a profit on robust revenue growth and absence of exceptional costs.
Spire Healthcare, in which London and Johannesburg-listed Mediclinic International PLC holds a 30% interest, reported pretax profit of GBP9.6 million for 2019, compared to a loss of GBP5.6 million the year before.
Spire's profit performance was helped by absence of impairment charges. In 2018, the company recorded an impairment charge of GBP12.6 million relating to Spire Alexandra hospital, and a GBP3.6 million write off associated with the potential site development in Milton Keynes, England.
On an adjusted basis, pretax profit dropped by 19% to GBP27.5 million from GBP33.8 million.
Earnings before interest, taxes, amortisation and depreciation rose by 1.8% year-on-year to GBP189.0 million from GBP185.7 million.
Revenue for the year grew by 5.3% to GBP980.8 million from GBP931.1 million the year before, driven by a stronger performance in all divisions, particularly 6.9% growth from outpatient revenue and a 4.2% rise from the inpatient segment.
Spire Healthcare declared a final dividend of 2.5 pence per share, leaving the total payout at 3.8p, in-line with the prior year.
Looking ahead, Spire Healthcare said 2020 has progressed in line with management expectations, however the coronavirus outbreak has continued to create uncertainty.
The group said the nature and scale of any potential impact depends on the course of the disease, that cannot be accurately predicted at this time.
Aside from this uncertainty, Spire expects continued revenue growth for 2020, leading to a figure above the GBP1 billion mark.
"PMI delivered a record performance, and there is encouraging momentum in Self-pay. NHS revenue also accelerated in the second half of the year, partly as a result of opening new service lines to meet the changing needs of local commissioners, in addition to new contracts, including the provision of more complex treatments," said Chief Executive Officer Justin Ash.
"Operating profit and cash generation both improved materially. These were a good set of results, meeting our key financial and quality targets. Spire now has a solid platform for growth, and we look forward to the future with confidence," Ash added.
Shares in Spire Healthcare were up 1.7% at 112.30 pence on Thursday in London.
By Dayo Laniyan; dayolaniyan@alliancenews.com
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