Narayana Hrudayalaya explores more international opportunities

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Narayana Hrudayalaya, which recently completed the acquisition of Health City Cayman Islands (HCCI) in the Caribbean Islands, is now exploring more international healthcare markets. Last month, it had completed the buyback of the remaining 71.4 per cent shareholding in Health City Cayman Islands (HCCI) from Ascension Health Ventures for USD 32.26 million. HCCI is the largest hospital in the Caribbeans attracting patients from the Cayman Islands, the Caribbean and Central America.

"We are optimistic that this experience will act as a stepping stone for us to further explore the untapped international healthcare market. The success we achieved at this facility, in terms of the unit breaking even at monthly EBITDA level in the 24th month and making net profit by the 11th quarter, has bolstered our conviction to operate in such territories," Narayana Hrudayalaya vice chairman Ashutosh Raghuvanshi told an earnings call conference over the weekend. On the operational front, it had tied up with all the major insurance companies in the region and had also entered into an understanding with airlines to improve connectivity to the region. "On the clinical front, our outcomes are at par with the major hospitals in the advanced regions like the US.

These endeavours have strengthened HCCI¿s brand recognition in the region" he said. Going ahead, they are planning certain operational streamlining in the facility which is expected to give a further boost to profitability. "We expect this hospital to evolve as a major healthcare destination in the Caribbean region in times to come," Raghuvanshi said. In the domestic market, the company had spent Rs 70 crore towards normal and routine maintenance and upgrades in the first 9 months this year and had plans to soon spend around Rs 50 crore in its recently acquired Gurugram facility, Debangshu Sarkar, head of investor relations and mergers and acquisitions, said. Raghuvanshi said that the Gurugram facility was close to commissioning, adding that this unit would be complementary to its Dharamshila facility in east Delhi.

The east Delhi facility was gaining traction due to its upgrade from a cancer centre to a full-fledged multi super-specialty one, he added. Raghuvanshi said that its Mumbai facility was a newly-constructed one in which a partner had invested in the land and building while Narayana Hrudayalaya had invested Rs 50 crore worth of equipment. Raghuvanshi said, "We remain confident that despite the continuing regulatory headwinds in the domestic healthcare ecosystem, which is undergoing a sweeping overhaul, there are lots of opportunities lying untapped."

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