May 12 (Reuters) - Life Healthcare Group Holdings Ltd
* HY revenue up 22.6% to r9.6 billion
* HY normalised EBITDA up 15.2% to r2.4 billion
* Declares interim dividend of 35 cents per share
* HY headline earnings per share decreased 71.3 percent to 26.7 cents
* Net debt to normalised EBITDA as at 31 March 2017 was 3.99 times versus 1.67 times at 30 September 2016
* Increase in net debt is primarily due to r14.6 billion raised in respect of acquisition of alliance medical
* Approved r1.2 billion of its 2017 capital expenditure programme to date
* “General market conditions in Southern Africa are not expected to improve substantially in foreseeable future”
* Expect continued pressure on acute hospital volumes
* Well-positioned to continue driving its complementary services business through expansion in Southern Africa and Alliance Medical
* Completion of rights issue will result in group’s net debt to EBITDA decreasing to approximately 2.35 times
* In southern africa, group aims to add over 112 acute hospital brownfield beds in next six months
* Pressure on costs and occupancies will continue; implemented measures to mitigate impact of these pressures
* FY results expected to show yoy decline of more than 20% in EPS (minimum decline of 31.0 cps) and HEPS (minimum decline of 38.5 cps)
* Expects FY results decline due to impact of transaction costs, increased funding costs related to alliance medical acquisition, impairment of Poland Source text for Eikon: Further company coverage: (Bangalore.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com)
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