KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 18): KPJ Healthcare Bhd posted a 27% drop in net profit for the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2021 (4QFY21) to RM18.46 million from RM25.29 million, despite recording an improvement in revenue.
According to the healthcare provider’s filing on Friday (Feb 18), earnings per share slipped to 0.43 sen from 0.59 sen.
Revenue for the quarter rose 11% to RM689.12 million from RM622.34 million in 4QFY20, on the back of higher patient numbers.
“During the quarter under review, outpatient visits increased to 730,992 from 707,177, while inpatient visits increased to 71,007 from 57,722 in the previous corresponding quarter,” it said.
KPJ declared a single-tier interim dividend of 0.2 sen per share, to be paid on April 22, with an ex-date of March 30.
For the full year (FY21), net profit declined 54% to RM51.03 million from RM110.44 million, which the group attributed to an increase in materials costs as a result of complying with the Covid-19 standard operating procedure’s (SOP) requirements.
“Usage of personal protective equipment (PPE) by our employees and compulsory requirement of RT-PCR test for all inpatients had resulted in higher operating costs during this Covid-19 pandemic,” it said.
However, revenue for FY21 increased 9.57% to RM2.63 billion from RM2.4 billion due to increased activities throughout the year, including greater collaboration with the public healthcare sector to treat Covid-19 patients, higher Covid-19 screenings, laboratory testing and vaccination services.
“Patient visits increased to 3.06 million in 2021, from 2.88 million in 2020. Group hospitals also performed 87,051 surgery cases and 15,802 delivery cases in 2021, an increase of 7% and 31% respectively in comparison to 2020,” it added.
In terms of the group’s prospects moving forward, KPJ said whilst it continues to expand its operations, it anticipates the challenges posed by the pandemic to continue in the year 2022.
“The group has identified key strategic focus areas for 2022 that will shape its ability to navigate from recovering to thriving in the post-pandemic ‘new normal’ and advance its journey in the industry.
“Our focus (is to) continue to cover greater adoption of virtual health and other digital innovations, as well as public-private collaborations via decanting of non-Covid-19 cases, in efforts to alleviate the strain on the public healthcare system,” it added.
In a statement, KPJ president and managing director Ahmad Shahizam Mohd Shariff said the group will move towards the second phase of its transformative programme in 2022, after it had completed the first phase in 2021.
“The second phase of our transformation, which we have named STAR 25, will focus on delivering growth. The proceeds raised from our Sukuk Wakalah programme will allow us to rebalance our capital and will be utilised for our Shariah-compliant future expansion activities,” he said.
He added that this includes capital expenditure to push towards upgrading the group’s existing infrastructure, as well as expanding into new markets such as ambulatory care centres and the digitalisation of its hospital network.
Shares of KPJ Healthcare closed unchanged at RM1.09 on Friday, giving the group a market capitalisation of RM4.9 billion.