Australia's largest private hospital operator, Ramsay Health Care, has reported a 20.6 per cent fall in full-year profit after recording about $150 million of writedowns and restructuring costs.
Ramsay, which operates 73 hospitals and day surgery units in Australia, says net profit for the 12 months to June 30 slipped to $388.3 million, from $488.9 million a year earlier, because of $122 million of asset writedowns or lease provisioning in the UK and $29.9 million of restructuring costs in France.
Excluding the one-off costs, underlying net profit rose 6.8 per cent to $579.3 million and Ramsay lifted its final dividend five cents to 86.5 cents, fully franked.
Global revenue rose to $9.18 billion, or 5.4 per cent, from $8.70 billion, of which the Australian business contributed $4.9 billion, up 5.5 per cent on last year.
Ramsay Health Care managing director Craig McNally said the company had delivered a solid result despite NHS volumes falling at its UK hospitals.
"Our FY18 results were impacted by the significant downturn in NHS volumes in our UK business as well as softer growth rates in our Australian business, and the decision to temporarily slow down the rollout of the Ramsay Pharmacy franchise network while we invest in infrastructure and resources to successfully scale this franchise business for the long term," he said.
Mr McNally said the normal growth attributable to brownfield hospitals in Australia was lower due to $171 million in capital investment completions, which included 208 gross beds, seven theatres, and 21 consulting suites.
At 1441 AEST, Ramsay shares were down $4.17, or 7.2 per cent, at $53.99.
RAMSAY PROFIT FALLS ON UK WRITEDOWNS
* Net profit down 21pct to $388.3 mln
* Revenue up 5.5pct to $9.18 bln
* Fully franked final dividend of 86.5 cents/share, up 5.0 cents from year ago
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