Al Noor in good health following public listing

Profits at Al Noor Hospitals Group rose 11.6 per cent in the first half of the year as the healthcare firm that recently went public used cash it raised in its initial public offering to repay outstanding loans.

Al Noor is the biggest healthcare company in Abu Dhabi, owning three hospitals and nine medical centres in the emirate. Fatima Al Marzooqi / The National

Profits at Al Noor Hospitals Group rose 11.6 per cent in the first half of the year as the healthcare company that went public two months ago used cash it raised in its initial public offering to repay outstanding loans.

“After listing on the London Stock Exchange in June, raising primary proceeds of US$150 million, the Abu Dhabi-based company repaid all outstanding loans,” Al Noor Hospitals said yesterday. The company’s net cash position at the end of the period was $88m.

Earnings before interest, taxes depreciation and amortization rose to $41.3m in the first half, an 11.6 per cent rise from a year earlier. Al Noor’s shares traded 3.1 per cent higher to £7.32 in mid-morning trading in London following the release of the financial results.

Outpatient volumes rose 9.8 per cent to 843,375. Inpatient volumes jumped 18.7 per cent to 20,516, while the number of revenue-generating physicians rose 12.9 per cent to 45. Al Noor had 227 operational beds and 461 physicians as of March 31, according to its intention-to-list filing.

The company did not provide a breakdown for the second quarter.

Three new medical centres were commissioned at Mamoura and Sanaya in the emirate of Abu Dhabi, along with Muscat, Oman, bringing the total figure to 10, the company said in a statement.

“Al Noor is performing in line with our expectations, and we are on track to achieve our objectives for 2013,” the statement said. “We continue to pay special attention to physician recruitment and licensing, and we are on course to open two additional medical centres in the second half of the year.”

The company added it continued to “view the outlook with confidence”, as the region grappled with a rapidly ageing demographic and suffered lifestyle-related medical conditions such as diabetes and obesity.

The healthcare industry in the UAE has experienced a surge of investment driven by a rapidly expanding population, rising incomes and a high incidence of chronic conditions such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

Al Noor's initial public offering in June followed public offerings by two Abu Dhabi-based companies in London over the past year.
Abu Dhabi Capital Management, an alternative investment firm, listed one of its funds on London's Alternative Investment Market.

At the time, the company said that the local markets did not have adequate liquidity to support such a listing and that they faced numerous other hurdles in attracting business.

NMC Health, founded by the Indian entrepreneur BR Shetty, raised $187m in a share sale, winning a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange.