In the pink of health
Venkatachari Jagannathan
23 July 2002
Chennai: Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Ltd (AHEL) recently called a press meet to discuss fiscal 2001-02 results and future plans. Chennai journalists were amused. Why? Normally the company just faxes its quarterly or annual results to the newspapers. And once it is done, key AHEL officials go into hiding and remain inaccessible to reporters for clarifications if any.
"You generally used to report the results based on our faxed release. This meeting is not just to discuss company results, but to reveal the new direction the company is going to take in the near future", Apollo Hospitals group chairman Dr Prathap C Reddy told the gaping journalists.
The meeting did have a solid intention. Fiscal 2001-02 saw the Rs 39.5-crore equity-based AHEL going down on several parameters. Despite the total income going up by Rs 54 crore to Rs 376 crore, the net profit took a beating sliding down by Rs 6 crore to Rs 24 crore as compared to the previous fiscal.
The interest cost increased to Rs 23 crore, taking up the debt-equity ratio to 0.74. Bad debts to the tune of Rs 5.5 crore and the Rs 52-crore deferred tax debited to the profit and loss account also dragged down the net profits. Consequently, key ratios like return on the capital employed and return on shareholders net worth slid down to 14.82 per cent and 10.03 per cent, respectively.
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| "Last year we created a capacity of 450 beds and the resultant increase in interest costs, depreciation and capital outlay had its impact on profits. The revenue on this investment will accrue in the coming years", says AHEL | |||||||||||||||||||
