Feb 10 (Reuters) - India's Apollo Hospitals Enterprise forecast mid to high teens percentage revenue growth for the year ahead after it posted a bigger-than-expected rise in quarterly profit on Tuesday and laid out plans to add beds to drive growth.
The rising number of complex diseases such as cancer and cardiac issues, lifestyle changes, an aging population and higher health awareness in India continued to lift demand for specialty care at private hospitals, which dominate the country's specialty care market.
Apollo's revenue from complex care, cardiology, oncology, neurology, gastroenterology and orthopedics , rose 22.6% in the quarter from a year earlier, CEO Madhu Sasidhar told Reuters, with organ transplants delivering 40% revenue growth.
The hospital operator, which has nearly 10,000 beds in total, aims to increase that count to 13,000 beds by fiscal 2029-2030 under its existing expansion strategy.
"(as beds become operational) we expect mid-high teens revenue growth for 2026-2027," CFO Krishnan Akhileswaran told Reuters, adding that a maximum number of those beds would be for complex care.
Apollo's expansion plan comes as India's private hospitals step up bed additions, especially in smaller towns, by acquiring smaller hospitals and building new facilities.
The company's consolidated net profit rose to 5.02 billion rupees ($55.47 million) for the quarter ended December 31, from 3.72 billion rupees. Analysts, on average, expected 4.82 billion rupees, according to data compiled by LSEG.
Overall revenue rose 17.2% to 64.77 billion rupees, edging past estimates of 63.29 billion rupees, as the healthcare services business, Apollo's largest, grew 15%.
Apollo said its occupancy rate fell to 67% for the quarter from 68% a year earlier.
(Reporting by Rishika Sadam; Editing by Eileen Soreng and Tasim Zahid)
By Rishika Sadam
