This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on February 20, 2019

KUALA LUMPUR: KPJ Healthcare Bhd posted a net profit of RM53.32 million in the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2018 (4QFY18), down 12.47% from RM60.92 million in the same quarter last year, due to a higher effective tax rate and losses from its discontinued Australian operations.

Earnings per share fell to 1.28 sen from 1.4 sen, the healthcare group said in a filing yesterday. The decline was despite quarterly revenue rising 3.55% to RM863.35 million, from RM833.73 million previously, mostly helped by better contribution from the group’s Malaysian operations which made up over 95% of revenue.

For the full year ended Dec 31, 2018 (FY18), KPJ’s net profit rose 10.83% to RM179.44 million, from RM161.91 million in FY17, as full-year revenue rose 4.03% to a record high of RM3.31 billion from RM3.18 billion.

“Our focus on improvements in operational efficiencies coupled with strict cost discipline throughout the year resulted in a positive impact on costs and diluted the effects of cost escalation,” said KPJ on its full-year performance.

The company expects the improvements to “accelerate” in FY19, with the opening of more new hospitals and healthcare facilities by the group. However, it also pointed that the rising cost in the healthcare industry will continue to be its main challenge.