India's Apollo Hospitals slips as expansion costs cloud strong results (updated)

Apollo Hospitals Enterprise

05/11/2026 04:15

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Nov 5 (Reuters) - Shares of India's Apollo Hospitals Enterprise APLH.NS fell more than 2% on Thursday as analysts flagged margin pressure as the hospital chain expands amid potential regulatory changes, overshadowing a 32% rise in quarterly profit.
The shares fell 3.4% to 8,310.10 rupees as of 9:39 a.m. IST, compared with the benchmark Nifty 50's .NSEI rise of 1.68%.
Apollo's aggressive expansion programme has added to near-term costs, with losses at newer facilities weighing on profitability even as established hospitals continue to benefit from strong demand for specialised treatments. The chain plans to add more than 5,800 hospital beds over five years.
Citi said new hospitals posted losses and pre-operating expenses of 348 million rupees ($3.68 million) while established ones maintained a healthy operating margin of 25.8%.
The brokerage, which has a "buy" rating and 10,770-rupee target on Apollo shares, flagged the potential impact of an oncology drug trade-margin cap and a regulatory notice on hospital margins as key issues for earnings.
Apollo's consolidated net profit rose to 6.30 billion rupees in the September quarter from 4.77 billion rupees a year earlier, broadly in line with analysts' estimate of 6.36 billion rupees, according to data compiled by LSEG.     
The company's healthcare services revenue grew 23% but operating margin at the hospitals business narrowed by about 60 basis points to 24%.



($1 = 94.6400 Indian rupees)

 (Reporting by Surbhi Misra in Bengaluru; Editing by Jochelle Mendonca and Mrigank Dhaniwala)
 ((Surbhi.Misra@thomsonreuters.com ||  www.linkedin.com/in/surbhi-misra9/;))