Robust home market buoys Netcare

Private hospital group Netcare reports an 11% rise in half-year profit.

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Johannesburg - South Africa's second-largest private hospital group Netcare reported an 11% rise in half-year profit on Monday as a strong showing at home offset weak demand in the United Kingdom.

Netcare, which runs Britain's largest private hospital network, BMI Healthcare, said headline earnings per share (EPS) rose to 90.3 cents in the six months to March 31 from 81.4 cents a year earlier.

Headline EPS strips out certain one-off items and is the main profit measure in South Africa.

While demand for private healthcare is increasing in South Africa due to a fast-growing middle class, tentative economic growth in the United Kingdom has led to a drop in the number of Britons with private medical insurance.

Netcare has been dwarfed by larger rival Mediclinic International, which has made an aggressive push into overseas markets via acquisitions in recent years including buying Abu Dhabi-based Al Noor Group.

Shares in Netcare were down 0.5 percent to 34.16 rand by 07h07 GMT, lagging a 0.7 percent gain in the blue-chip JSE Top-40 index.

REUTERS