Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Limited Q4 FY23 Earnings Conference Call Insights

Key highlights from Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Limited (APOLLOHOSP) Q4 FY23 Earnings Concall

Management Update:

• [00:08:21] APOLLOHOSP said it has made significant progress in inorganic expansion plans, aiming to add 2,000 beds and improve hospital occupancy to 70% by the end of FY ’24.

Q&A Highlights:

• [00:12:13] Damayanti Kerai from HSBC asked how the company plans to double its GMV in FY24 vs. FY23 levels, given that 4Q growth seems low. Shobana Kamineni Executive VC said that the company’s plan is to achieve a 100% increase in growth from the previous year, with most of it coming from pharmacy while keeping marketing spend at the same level. APOLLOHOSP has seen an increase in customer retention and traction in both offline and online pathways, with new age groups of customers and more engagement with serious customers.

• [00:16:23] Damayanti Kerai from HSBC enquired if AHLL spend will continue at a similar rate and where the spend has gone in various buckets. Sanjiv Gupta CFO Apollo 24/7 replied that AHLL’s EBITDA loss in 4Q was INR72 crores, but this is expected to reduce to INR50 crores by H1. This is due to a one-off marketing intake integration tie-up cost and cost reductions in other areas.

• [00:21:13] Prakash Agarwal at Axis Capital queried if the soft 12% YoY growth in offline pharmacy for HealthCo was due to COVID or any other reason. Obul Reddy CFO Pharmacy answered that excluding the significant COVID-related sales from the first two quarters of the previous year, offline growth stands at approx. 19-20%.

• [00:22:03] Prakash Agarwal at Axis Capital asked if there was a seasonally soft quarter and how the hospital plans to move from 65% to 70% occupancy by the end of the year. Suneeta Reddy MD said the occupancy dropped by 3% due to a reduction in institutional patients, leading to a 10% increase in ARPOB and an improvement in case mix.

• [00:24:19] Prakash Agarwal at Axis Capital enquired about any update on the progress of adding 2,000 beds and if there are any particular locations to highlight. Obul Reddy CFO Pharmacy replied that the company anticipates providing an update in the next quarter regarding the progress in cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, and Bangalore.

• [00:27:10] Gina Kim from Schroders asked about the company’s expectation for FY24 as a group. Suneeta Reddy MD said the company expects 15% growth in Healthcare Services from higher occupancy and better EBITDA and 100% growth on the digital front with platform transactions. AHLL core revenues have grown by 28% and non-COVID diagnostics grew 63% YoY. The company is investing in changing its mix to semi-specialized, specialized, and super-specialized and expect growth rates to continue at 35-40%.

• [00:37:36] Shyam Srinivasan at Goldman Sachs asked about divergence between the 9% QoQ growth in GMV and the 44% growth in revenue to INR2,539 and for a split of the GMV in different services. Sanjiv Gupta CFO Apollo 24/7 said the revenue as a percentage of GMV was 42.9% last quarter and is expected to stabilize between 45-50% in the next quarter. Of the INR593 crores distributed among various verticals, pharmacy contributed INR375 crores or 74%.

• [00:39:18] Tushar Manudhane from Motilal Oswal asked for an update on the number of offline stores that will be added in the coming years, given the slowdown in the quarter but aggressive growth in the full year. Obul Reddy CFO Pharmacy replied that Last quarter, APOLLOHOSP added 300 stores but had a higher number of closures resulting in a lower net addition. The company is on track with new openings. APOLLOHOSP opened 1,050 stores in the full year and plan to open 500-600 stores next year.

• [00:41:16] Aneesh Deora from Nomura enquired if the company include private label and trade generics in the private label contribution for this quarter. Obul Reddy CFO Pharmacy clarified that pure FMCG private level is about 11%. With generics, it is about 16%.

• [00:48:08] Nitin Agarwal at DAM Capital asked about the EBITDA growth outlook for the hospital services for FY24. Sanjiv Gupta CFO Apollo 24/7 replied that the company is hoping for overall growth of 13-15% in revenue and higher growth in EBITDA due to expansion, operating leverage, and cost cuts.

• [00:49:24] Nitin Agarwal at DAM Capital asked if the increase in occupancy from 64% to 70% for FY ’24 will lead to a disproportionate increase in profitability for the hospitals. Suneeta Reddy MD believes APOLLOHOSP has the potential to reach its target of 70% occupancy by 4Q24 through initiatives such as improving international patient mix.

• [00:50:10] Sayantan Maji from Credit Suisse asked for the number of beds that will be added in the next 2-3 fiscals once the occupancy level reaches 70%. Suneeta Reddy MD replied that the plan is to add 2,000 beds by 2027 with a new hospital added to the system every year and around 700 new beds after FY24.