BAD NEUSTADT AN DER SAALE (dpa-AFX) - German hospital operator Rhoen-Klinikum AG (RKKPF.PK) reported that its first-quarter consolidated net profit was 10.4 million euros, up 23.8% from the previous year.
Earnings before interest, tax and depreciation or EBITDA were 27.6 million euros up 8.2% from the previous year.
The growth in quarterly profit does not yet include the positive effects from the successful agreement on separate accounting with the Federal State of Hesse and the two universities of Giessen and Marburg: here, the final prerequisite of the agreement reached in 2017 - the arm's length comparison of the agreement by an auditor - is expected to be met within a few months.
Revenues rose 3.9 percent to 311.7 million euros from the prior year.
The company treated a total of 216,602 patients at Group hospitals, up 2.1% from last year.
At this year's Annual General Meeting on 6 June 2018 in Bad Neustadt a. d. Saale, the Board of Management and the Supervisory Board propose paying out of net distributable profit a dividend of 0.22 euros per ordinary non-par share. This translates into a payout ratio of roughly 40 per cent, which was already taken as a basis for the dividend payout in 2017. With this ratio, our Company safeguards the medium-term ability to fulfill its capex-needs yet also allows its shareholders to participate in the success of the company. Based on the current number of shares (roughly 66.9 million) that translates into a dividend total of around 14.7 million euros.
For the current financial year 2018, the company expects revenues of 1.24 billion euros within a range of plus or minus 5 per cent. Regulatory measures such as lower remuneration for services entailing high material cost intensity, particularly in the field of cardiology, or the fixed cost degression discount on surplus services, have to be taken into account as burdening factors.
For earnings before interest, tax and depreciation/amortisation (EBITDA), it expects a much higher level compared with 2017 of between 117.5 million euros and 127.5 million euros - which in addition to other effects is favourably influenced by the agreement on separate accounting at UKGM.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX