* Normalised headline EPS at 112.1 cents vs 77.2 cents
* S.Africa, UAE robust
* Interim dividend up 10 percent
(Adds details, shares)
JOHANNESBURG, Nov 6 (Reuters) – South Africa’s biggest
private hospital group by value, Mediclinic International
, reported a 45 percent surge in first-half profit
helped by a robust performance in its mainstay domestic market
and the United Arab Emirates.
Mediclinic, which also operates in Switzerland, said on
Tuesday normalised headline earnings per share totalled 112.1
cents in the six months to end-September, compared with 77.2
cents a year earlier.
Headline EPS, the main profit measure in South Africa,
strips out certain one-time items.
Shares in the company, which are up more than 50 percent so
far this year, were 1.2 higher at 47.55 rand as of 1322 GMT,
outpacing rivals Life Healthcare, down 1.27 percent and
a flat Netcare.
Demand for private healthcare is increasing in South Africa
as a fast-growing middle class take up medical insurance,
regulatory headwinds in Switzerland have weighed on the Cape
Town-based firm.
Mediclinic said more patients, often with serious
conditions, boosted the average income per bed in South Africa
and the UAE.
The company said revenue grew 12 percent to 11.7 billion
rand ($1.34 billion) with its Swiss business – the company
biggest by sales –boosting sales by 9 percent, due to a weaker
rand currency against the Swiss franc.
It raised its interim dividend by 10 percent to 25.3 cents
per share and said it was optimistic about is operational
prospects for the 2013 fiscal year.
($1 = 8.7062 South African rand)
(Reporting by Tiisetso Motsoeneng; Editing by David Dolan)
