Burjeel Holdings reported an 11 per cent growth in group revenue to AED1.2 billion (USD330 million) for the three months ended 31 March 2024.
EBITDA was up 7.7 per cent to AED260 million ($70.8 million). This excludes performance-based employee bonuses for the financial year 2023 that was paid in Q1 2024. Net profit grew 16 per cent year-on-year to AED141 million ($38.4 million).
Higher patient footfall and the rapid ramp-up of super-specialty services helped Burjeel Medical City revenue grew by 22 per cent to AED 283 million.
Burjeel Holdings is on track to open 13 new PhysioTherabia centres in Saudi Arabia by end of May. There are now 17 centres across Riyadh, Madina, Jeddah, Dammam, Al Khobar and Yanbu. The group targets 60 such centres by the end of next year.
Burjeel’s super-specialty medicine launched the Thyroid Parathyroid Center at Burjeel Medical City (BMC) in association with the University of Kansas Medical Center. BMC successfully performed its first two liver transplants during the month of Ramadan. The group also launched OncoHelix-CoLab this month, expanding its omics and precision medicine capabilities with the first lab in the UAE to offer comprehensive capabilities in molecular and cellular immunology.
John Sunil, Chief Executive Officer of Burjeel Holdings, commented: “Building on our impressive performance in 2023, Burjeel Holdings delivered another quarter of double-digit revenue growth despite the impact of an earlier start to Ramadan this year.
“Outstanding performance across our core business segments drove accelerated revenue and patient footfall results in the pre-Ramadan period, aligning with our full-year guidance 2024. Adjusted net profit was up by 16.3 per cent, driven by revenue growth, increased operational efficiencies and lower finance costs.
“Expanding the footprint of PhysioTherabia centers in Saudi Arabia continues to be our key high-potential growth area. Since inception, we have already rolled out 17 of the 30 centers due to be operational this year, putting us well ahead of schedule.”
The Hospitals segment continued to be the core driver of the group’s performance, delivering 90 per cent of total revenue in the first quarter. Bed occupancy across the group rose to 64 per cent, which shows the company still has room within the invested infrastructure to grow organically.
Inpatient footfall growth was 11 per cent during the quarter, with 88 per cent of them visiting the hospitals in the pre-Ramadan period. Outpatient footfall and utilisation rate was impacted by the postponement of visits because of the Holy Month of Ramadan and increased only marginally by 1.6 per cent.
Hospitals revenue and EBITDA increased by 13.5 per cent and 18.9 per cent, respectively, driven by higher inpatient footfall and the group’s continued focus on advanced specialty services, including oncology, bone marrow and organ transplantations, fetal medicine, pediatric sub-specialties and orthopedics.
The company’s flagship hospital asset, BMC, delivered outstanding performance with revenue growing 21.8 per cent to AED283 million and EBITDA to AED44 million (up 32.3 per cent). BMC’s EBITDA margin increased by 1.2 per cent to 15.7 per cent during Q1 despite ongoing investments in physician headcount, which was nearly 30 per cent more than the corresponding period last year. Patient footfall at BMC was up by 23.5 per cent and bed occupancy touched 55 per cent (up from 41% last year).
Burjeel Holdings has maintained a positive outlook for its mid- and long-term growth thanks to expanding business and favourable macro tailwinds in both the United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The group continues to see strong demand for its differentiated specialty healthcare offering.
“Based on our robust first-quarter performance, especially in the pre-Ramadan period, and supported by strong macro tailwinds, we reiterate our 2024 guidance of delivering mid-teens revenue growth and improving EBITDA margin,” Sunil added.
“On top of that, we continue to evaluate various CAPEX-light opportunities in the Gulf, where we anticipate introducing new value-based products in KSA and additional advanced healthcare service lines in the UAE.”
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