Ramsay reports strong FY profit jump

Australia’s biggest healthcare provider Ramsay Healthcare this week reported a 21.9 percent jump in full-year net profit to $178.5 million.

Sales in Australia and Indonesia provided the biggest boost, increasing 7.2 percent to $2.7 billion.

The company’s UK operations also performed well, increasing 10 percent to 350.2 million pounds, thanks largely to a big rise in NHS (National Health Service) activity.

Ramsay also reported revenues of $54.6 million following its acquisition of a 57 per cent interest in leading French private hospital operator Groupe Proclif SAS (“Proclif”) earlier in the year. The company said that it would continue to look for further acquisition opportunities in France as well as its other key markets.

All up total sales increased 5.5 percent to $3.4 billion.

Ramsay Healthcare runs 116 hospitals holding around 9000 beds throughout Australia, Indonesia, the UK and France.

The company noted that that the combination of an ageing population and an overall increase in expectations with regard to healthcare would help to drive sales further over the next few years.