This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
Private hospitals operator Ramsay Healthcare swung to a half year loss as it looks to jettison its struggling European operations.
Ramsay reported a net loss after tax and minority interests of $104.9 million on the back of non-recurring items, including writedowns, of $263.8 million. Net profit after tax from continuing operations excluding non-recurring items increased 10.7% to $158.9 million, it said, driven by continued momentum in its UK hospitals business, a “solid” result in Australia and lower group interest costs following the sale of Ramsay Sime Darby at the end of 2023.
Its Australian operations posted a 6.2% increase in underlying EBIT to $309 million. Ramsay Admissions growth excluding the Peel Health Campus in Western Australia, which was handed back to the government in August, was 2.8% driven by 3%-plus growth in core private surgical and medical admissions. Day admissions grew strongly and to now be 68.6% of all admissions. Revenue growth in the half was supported by the recent completion of four major payor negotiations.
Group underlying EBIT slipped 1.0% to $500.1 million due to weaker results European business Ramsay Santé, and the Elysium Healthcare mental health business in the UK, which Ramsay said are “facing significant challenges”.
They respectively saw underlying EBIT falls of 23.0% to $102.2 million and of 41.3% to $14.9 million.
Excluding the impact of non-recurring items Ramsay Santé reported a loss of €19.8 million after tax and minority interests. Ramsay Santé employs 38,000 staff across 465 sites in Denmark, France, Italy, Norway and Sweden.
“The result reflects a decline in government funding support for the private health system in France combined with the impact of cost inflation in prior years not being built into tariff indexation for the sector,” Ramsay said.
Following an internal review, Ramsay announced that Goldman Sachs had been “appointed to further explore and advise on strategic options associated with Ramsay’s 52.8% shareholding in Ramsay Santé”.
