Ramsay Health Care sinks to near 11-year low after 'underwhelming' outlook

Ramsay Health Care

30/08/2024 02:07

** Shares of Australian hospital operator Ramsay Health Care
 RHC.AX  fall as much as 8.1% to A$40.970, their lowest level
since Dec. 16, 2013
    ** RHC top loser in the ASX 200 benchmark index  .AXJO 
    ** Marks its worst intraday loss since Aug. 24, 2023
    ** Sees activity growth in all regions in FY25, "albeit at a
lower rate than in FY24"
    ** Adds that margin recovery will be impacted by further
investment in business
    ** Expects net interest expense between A$590-A$620 mln vs
Visible Alpha consensus of A$589 mln
    ** Citi says the FY25 outlook is "underwhelming", while
Jarden analysts are saying the outlook is "pretty subdued with
consensus looking more optimistic"
    ** RHC's FY24 post-tax underlying profit from continuing
operations of A$300.1 mln ($203.95 mln), up ~19.7%
    ** Announces final dividend of 80 Australian cents per share
    ** RHC down 15.3% this year as of last close


($1 = 1.4715 Australian dollars)

 (Reporting by Sameer Manekar in Bengaluru)
 ((Sameer.Manekar@thomsonreuters.com; Twitter: https://twitter.com/sameer_manekar))