India's Apollo Hospitals reports rise in Q4 profit before tax on lower costs

Bengaluru: Indian healthcare services provider Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Ltd reported a 7.6 per cent rise in its fourth-quarter profit on Tuesday, helped by a fall in input costs.

Consolidated profit before tax rose to 2.54 billion rupees ($30.7 million) for the three months ended March 31, from 2.36 billion rupees a year earlier, the company said in a stock exchange filing.

Revenue from operations for one of the country's largest hospital chains rose nearly 21 per cent to 43.02 billion rupees, while cost of materials consumed slid 14.3 per cent from last year.

Revenue from healthcare services, which accounted for 51 per cent of the total revenue in the quarter, climbed 18.5 per cent, while revenue for the digital health and pharmacy distribution segment grew by 30.9 per cent.

The Chennai-based company runs over 73 private hospitals, pharmacies, diagnostic clinics across the country.

Shares of the company fell 2 per cent after the results before settling 0.9 per cent lower to snap three straight sessions of gains.

Last week, peer Fortis Healthcare Ltd posted a nearly 59 per cent rise in its fourth-quarter profit.

($1 = 82.7047 Indian rupees)