Max Healthcare reports a marginal rise in quarterly profit despite robust double-digit revenue growth, with plans for capacity expansion signalling optimism in India’s private healthcare industry.
Max Healthcare Institute reported a slight rise in first-quarter profit on Thursday, even as revenue and earnings grew at a double-digit pace, underscoring continued demand in India’s private hospital sector. CNBC-TV18 said the company’s net profit came in at ₹357 crore, up 3% from ₹345 crore a year earlier, while revenue rose 15.2% to ₹2,835 crore and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, or EBITDA, increased 15% to ₹704 crore. Margins were broadly steady, easing marginally to 24.8% from 24.9%.
The numbers point to a business still expanding briskly, though the pace of profitability growth was more restrained than the top line. Max Healthcare’s operating performance follows a period in which the group had already been posting robust quarterly gains, with earlier reporting from Business Standard putting a June-quarter profit at ₹345 crore on gross revenue of ₹2,574 crore. That suggests some variation in how different market data feeds are presenting the company’s revenue base, but the direction of travel remains the same: steady growth backed by rising patient volumes and a larger clinical footprint.
Capacity expansion is now becoming a key part of the story. The board has approved ₹425 crore of capital spending for an additional hospital block and has also given in-principle approval for medical colleges or medical institutions. Separately, the company has been moving ahead with a leased 130-bed hospital in Dehradun, according to Business Standard, adding to a network that has been benefiting from stronger case complexity and an improved payor mix, as industry commentary has noted in recent quarters.
Max Healthcare’s latest results also come after a strong run in which it has been commissioning more brownfield capacity across sites including Mohali, Nanavati in Mumbai and Max Smart in Delhi. Analysts have said the new capacity should support operating leverage over the next few quarters as those units ramp up. Shares were trading higher after the announcement, although the stock has remained weaker over the past month and is still down for the year so far.
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