Abu Dhabi: Since first being listed in April 2012, NMC’s price per share had increased by 42 per cent up from £2.10 (Dh11.75) in 2012 to £2.9 at the end of April 2013, Binay Shetty, COO of NMC, told the Gulf News in a recent interview.
“NMC, the largest private healthcare provider in the UAE, was listed on London Stock Exchange in April 2012 after an initial public offering and the funds helped carry out the growth plans, which include a 250 bed hospital at a cost of US$200 million,” said Shetty.
He added that this step had been pivotal for NMC Health, and that NMC is quite “proud to have been the first Abu Dhabi-based business to list on the Premium Segment of the London Stock Exchange.”
He said that before being listed in London NMC had five healthcare facilities. By July 2012, NMC acquired another facility in Dubai and by July 2013 it had acquired another one in Musaffah area for an outpatient clinic near the Capital Mall.
By end of 2014 it will have more facilities including the maternity hospital, NMC hospital in Dubai Investments Park and the 250 bed specialty Hospital in Khalifa City.
“Brightpoint Women’s Hospital, the maternity hospital with a capital expenditure budget US$70 million [Dh257 million] plus capitalised expenses, will be the first dedicated maternity facility in Abu Dhabi. It is expected to open in Q3, 2013. When this facility opens 50 beds will be available, with the capacity to expand up to 100 beds at a later stage,” added Shetty. “Our full year results show that we have made strong progress across our existing facilities during 2012 and the fiscal year of 2013 will again be a year of transformation as we expect to open three of the four capital projects,” said Shetty.
He said that in December 2012, NMC started Phase I of the new specialty hospital in Khalifa City at a cost of US$200 million, slated to be opened end of 2014 for the first phase.
“Khalifa City Specialty Hospital is expected to open with an initial 75 beds by the end of 2014, featuring 23 specialties including emergency services, intensive care, paediatrics, cardiology, ophthalmology, orthopaedics, and urology, ” Shetty stressed.
Khalifa City Specialty Hospital’s capital expenditure budget is US$200 million and it will focus on specific specialist areas, comprising 250 beds when completed in 2016, he said.
“NMC operates eight hospitals, day surgery centres and medical centres across the UAE in five cities: Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Al Ain, Sharjah, and Umm Al Quwain.
UAE healthcare
With regard to healthcare spend in the UAE, Shetty said it is currently estimated at US$8 billion, with the figure expected to increase to US$13 billion by 2016.
“Healthcare spend per capita in the UAE is US$1,200 compared to US$3,000-4,000 in Europe. And the UAE health sector constitutes 3-4 per cent of the UAE GDP,” said Shetty.
“We expanded by 15 per cent since 2012 and this is deemed a great expansion.”
He added that health insurance would become mandatory in the course of this year in Dubai.
Expansion
Due to the competitive atmosphere in Saudi Arabia and Qatar, NMC had been considering these two markets and “we are currently in the feasibility study process”.
“Our strong reputation and commitment to a patient-centric approach, and providing high quality medical care across the UAE, continues to create opportunities for further expansion and progress regionally, mainly in KSA and Qatar,” said the COO.
“However, in KSA there is tough competition with the private sector as the Saudi government supports this sector by giving investors interest-free 200 million riyals [Dh195 million] in the form of loans,” he explained.
He called on facilitating regulations for healthcare investors in the UAE and to constantly improve the healthcare system every five years.
“We look for facilitating licensing procedures for doctors. Currently it takes 6-8 months to issue licences for doctors. Also we seek incentives like allocations of plots of land,” he said.
