MPIC hospital group hikes targets

MANILA, Philippines - The healthcare group of infrastructure conglomerate Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) has jacked up its medium-term income and revenue target given better operations and more hospital acquisitions.

In an interview, Augusto P. Palisoc Jr., MPIC executive director and head of the healthcare group, said the country’s largest hospital chain expects P1.2 billion in profits and as much as P17 billion in revenues by 2015.

Palisoc also said the target of “3,000 beds maybe achieved in three years given the pace of one to two hospital (acquisitions) every year.”

MPIC’s healthcare group earlier projected revenues and net income reaching P10 billion and P1 billion, respectively.

However, Palisoc said revenues already hit P11 billion last year while earnings reached P722 million, up 29 percent from 2011 given the consolidation of Asian Hospital and higher shareholdings in Cardinal Santos Medical Center.

Last year, MPIC acquired Asian Hospital in Alabang, Muntinlupa, which aims to have a full service cancer center by 2015.

MPIC also owns and controls Makati Medical Center, Cardinal Santos Medical Center in San Juan, Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Sta. Mesa, Riverside Medical Center in Bacolod and Davao Doctors Hospital in Mindanao.

Palisoc said the group now has around 1,800 beds, which is expected to breach the 2,000 mark when the P250-million acquisition of a 51-percent stake in De Los Santos Medical Center in Quezon City is completed in this second quarter.

To further increase revenues, MPIC is in talks with numerous family and doctors-owned hospitals for potential acquisitions.

Palisoc said MPIC will stick to its strategy of acquiring existing hospitals despite a new regulation of the Department of Health allowing private firms with to put up new general hospitals with less documentary requirements.

Building a hospital from scratch will require two to three years of construction and another two to three years to break even.

“We’ve been able to turn around situations in one year that’s why we prefer that strategy,” Palisoc said.

The healthcare group allotted P3.5 billion for acquisition of as much as four hospitals and additional ownership in existing hospitals.

In the first quarter, MPIC said aggregate core net income of the hospital group rose 13 percent to P219 million.

Despite increasing revenues, Palisoc said the hospitals group will remain a niche contributor in the infrastructure conglomerate.