Fortis Narrows loss to Rs.45.8 Crore in Q1

Fortis Healthcare has narrowed its losses in the first quarter of this fiscal. The company posted a net loss of Rs.45.8 crore from Rs.221.3 crore posted during the quarter that ended June 30, 2014 in the previous fiscal.

The company’s hospital business in India has posted a strong growth of 20 per cent, Fortis said in a statement. The hospital business raked in revenues of Rs.787 crore during the quarter ended June 30.

“We have had a strong first quarter with a significant improvement in our operating margins, a faster than expected ramp up of our newly opened Fortis Ludhiana hospital and our flagship, the Fortis Memorial Research Institute (FMRI). The quality of our earnings has also improved dramatically with a focus on the higher value market segments,” Aditya Vij, Chief Executive Officer, Fortis Healthcare said.

In the statement, Fortis said in the future it would focus on some key business drivers with direct impact on revenue growth and improve cost efficiencies across the network.

Special focus

Earlier, Vij had told BusinessLine that the hospital chain would focus on specialty centres, such as La Femme, its hospital for mothers and children. The company is ramping up the number of La Femme centres across the country, and is also adding more cancer hospitals and cardiac centres.

Fortis posted a net income of Rs.1,020.67 crore during the first quarter this year against Rs.1,517.40 crore in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.

The company had sold of its international businesses and assets — Dental Corporation in Australia, Fortis Hoan My in Vietnam and Quality Healthcare in Hong Kong — during the previous fiscal to pare of its debts.

Currently the company’s net debt stands at RS.1,065 crore at the end of June 30 this year, as compared to Rs.3,284 crore on June 30, 2013.Business Line