KUALA LUMPUR: Public Investment Bank (PublicInvest) remains optimistic about IHH Healthcare Bhd's long-term prospects as the group continues to stay committed to evaluating value-accretive assets in both existing and potential new markets.
IHH has outlined plans to continue expanding its bed capacity by 4000 new beds across Malaysia, India, Hong Kong, Türkiye and Europe within the next five years.
PublicInvest said the dynamic approach positions IHH to remain competitive and sustainable in the evolving healthcare landscape.
IHH reported an increase of 17 per cent year-over-year (YoY) headline net profit to RM368.9 million in the third quarter of its financial year 2023 (3Q23), mainly attributed to higher patient volume.
After excluding the Malaysian Financial Reporting Standards (MFRS) 129 effect, IHH's 9M23 core net profit increased 16 per cent YoY to RM1.43 billion in 3Q23.
"The results exceeded both our and the street's estimates at 82 per cent and 85 per cent of full-year forecasts, respectively.
"The discrepancy in our forecast was mainly due to the higher-than-expected growth in the overall group bed occupancy rate and inpatient admissions.
"We maintain our earnings forecast as we expect a slowdown in patient volume in 4Q23 due to the year-end holiday season.
"As such, we maintain our outperform rating on IHH with an unchanged target price of RM7.63," said the research house in a note today.