IHH Healthcare aims to nearly double hospital beds in India to 10,000 by 2031

Dr Ashutosh Raghuvanshi, managing director and chief executive officer of IHH Healthcare’s Indian arm Fortis Healthcare, said the brownfield expansion of its hospitals would be primarily funded through internal accruals, while debt would be used for acquisitions and equity could be raised if required..

IHH Healthcare has established one of India's largest integrated private healthcare platforms through its subsidiaries, Fortis Healthcare and Gleneagles Healthcare India. He said Fortis had a healthy balance sheet, with a debt-to-earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (Ebitda) ratio of 1.08 times, providing.

What Happened

Ashutosh said demand from international patients had been affected by the West Asia conflict, particularly from Iraq and African countries, as many patients from Africa transit through the Middle East. He said Bangladesh was another major source market for medical tourists to.

• The network comprises 36 hospitals with about 6,100 operational beds, serving patients across 12 states including key healthcare markets like Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Punjab, Kolkata and Hyderabad.

• Ashutosh said Fortis planned to add about 400 beds this year, with capital expenditure (capex) expected to be around 700 crore rupees (about US$90 million).

• Fortis’ capex stood at about US$75 million (about RM300 million) per annum, and the company could also undertake “creeping acquisitions” by purchasing shares from the secondary market, he said.

Key Details

IHH Healthcare group chief corporate officer Ashok Pandit said Türkiye and Europe were the largest contributors to the group’s first-quarter revenue, followed by Singapore, Malaysia and India. He said IHH would also place greater emphasis on ambulatory care centres, particularly in Malaysia.

• Ashutosh said the company expected to improve its Ebitda margin by about 1.5 percentage points annually, with the margin expected to reach around 25% over the next few years from the current 21%-22%.

• However, he said the margin could stabilise at around 25%-26% as new hospitals that had yet to mature came into the portfolio, while revenue was expected to grow by more than 15% annually.

• The oncology centre at Fortis Healthcare in Gurugram, India, receives about 30% of its patients from international markets, mainly from the Middle East, Africa and Central Asia.

Why It Matters

IHH Healthcare is a publicly traded multinational company with the largest controlling shareholder being Japan's Mitsui & Co, followed by the Malaysian government’s sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional Bhd.

• According to him, India’s contribution would take time to reach the level of other key markets as IHH fully owns its operations in Singapore and Malaysia and holds a 90% stake in Türkiye.

• IHH Healthcare owns 31.1% of Fortis, having acquired the controlling stake in 2018.

What Reports Say

Coverage of the story so far points to:

• Meanwhile, Ashok said, its Malaysian operation was expected to record double-digit growth again this year, having registered growth of 10-12 per cent in 2023, 2024 and 2025, while Türkiye was expected to grow at.

• In Malaysia, the group operates a large network of 18 hospitals with about 3,600 beds, treating hundreds of thousands of patients every year through brands such as Gleneagles, Pantai, Prince Court, Island Hospital, and.

• Continued reporting by The Edge Malaysia as more details emerge