Shares in Ramsay Health Care (RHC) rose more than 4% in yesterday’s general sell-off to hit an all time high during trading, after it reported yet another solid half year result, lifted interim dividend and upgraded its full year revenue and earnings guidance.
The company told the ASX yesterday revenue rose 41.6% to $3.3 billion in the latest six month period, topping market forecasts.
Net profit rose 21.3% to $191.4 million, as all parts of the business did well as well as the contribution from newly acquired assets in France.
Ramsay said that on what it calls a core net profit basis (which removes one-off items), net profit rose 19% to $204.4 million.
Ramsay shares ended the day at $66.42, up 3.6%, after hitting an intra day high of $68.31 during trading yesterday.
RHC 5Y – Ramsay upgrades profit guidance
It was a far higher quality result than the rebound achieved by Qantas in the December half year which attracted most of the attention yesterday.
Ramsay upgraded its full year guidance to net profit and earnings per share growth of 18% to 20%, from 14% to 16% previously.
The guidance will include nine months contribution of General de Sante, the network of French hospitals that a Ramsay-led joint venture took full control of in October 2014.
“Our operations around the world are all performing solidly and the global demand for healthcare remains high due to population growth,” CEO Christopher Rex said yesterday.
He added that factors such as increasing consumer wealth and government programs to expand access to healthcare, along with an ageing population – the number of people aged over 60 is forecast to triple by 2050 – are helping keep Ramsay on a solid footing.
The board declared an interim dividend of 40.5c a share to be paid on March 26, which is up 19.1% on last year’s interim distribution.
Ramsay shares had closed at a 12-month high of $64.10 on Wednesday and went on to add to that in the wake of the upgraded outlook.
Ramsay shares are up 35% in the past year, compared to a 8% rise in the ASX200 index.
