Medanta Owner Global Health Plans Rs 4,000-Crore Capex To Reach 6,000 Beds

Global Health Ltd. plans a capital expenditure of Rs 4,000 crore to expand its capacity to 6,000 beds in the next couple of years, according to Group Chief Executive Officer Pankaj Sahni.

The private healthcare firm, which operates the hospital chain under the Medanta brand, banks on the upcoming centres in Noida, Guwahati and Mumbai for the expansion in the current financial year.

"We have plans to go to about 6,000 beds over the course of the next couple of years and we've detailed out approximately Rs 4,000 crore of capex," Sahni told NDTV Profit in a conversation on Friday. "That will include our new hospitals in Guwahati, Mumbai and Delhi, as well as maintenance for the existing hospitals."

The Gurugram-based company's newest facility in Noida, which will become operational in the next few months, will receive the bulk of the capex this fiscal.

Expressing satisfaction over the March quarter and FY25 results, Sahni said the company remained focused on volume-driven, value-based growth, with increasing bed occupancy and conservative tariff hikes.

"We've seen very strong growth in Ebitda, both for the quarter and the full year," he said. "Since we completed the merger with our Lucknow unit, a 100% subsidiary, into our main company, Global Health, there has been some impact on PAT due to stamp duties and other merger-related expenses."

During the January–March period, the company's net profit declined 20% year-on-year to Rs 101 crore, while revenue from operations increased 15% to Rs 931 crore. For the fiscal, the Ebitda margin contracted to 25.4% from 26.1% in FY24.

In FY25, the company's consolidated capacity stood at 3,042 beds across its five centres.

On the future outlook, Chairperson Naresh Trehan emphasised Medanta's strategy of offering "world-class" care at affordable prices, focusing on quality over premium pricing. Despite aggressive expansion, Trehan said the company's operational challenges had been minimal due to its in-house talent incubation model.

"If you look at our footprint, it is mainly in north India right now, although in Mumbai, we are building right now. And there will be other places we'll be announcing soon. But the strategy is to keep that quality, stay at the top of the pile always," the managing director added. 

The management expressed confidence that the group is well-positioned to sustain quality-led growth in the coming years.

"The capex that we have estimated will be about Rs 4,000 crore. We do not exceed more than 50% debt," Trehan said.

"But if you look at it today, we are actually carrying a lot of cash on our balance sheet and we don't have any significant debt. So basically, we have a long runway where we can go and invest and build out all the places," the CEO added.

Medanta's international business currently contributes about 6% to the overall revenue, with Gurugram leading the segment. However, the facilities in Lucknow, Patna and Indore remain domestically focused. With its strong presence in the north, the company also plans to foray into the northeastern region.

Shares of Global Health closed 3.26% lower at Rs 1,202.65 apiece on the BSE on Friday, compared to a 0.24% decline benchmark Sensex.