Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Ltd (AHEL) has achieved impressive financial performance during the year ended March 2009. The Group's consolidated net profit has taken a quantum jumps of 32.8 per cent to Rs 102.49 crore from Rs 77.16 crore in the previous year. This resulted in strong earning per share of Rs 17.19 as against Rs 14.10 in the last year. The board of directors has recommended equity dividend of 65 per cent.

The company's consolidated net sales increased by 32.7 per cent to Rs 1,614 crore from Rs 1,216 crore. Its income from healthcare services on standalone basis improved to Rs 1,124 crore from Rs 923 crore and that from pharmacy moved up to Rs 334 crore from Rs 202 crore.

"It is immensely satisfying," said Dr Prathap C Reddy, executive chairman, Apollo Hospitals Group, "that Apollo Hospitals has continued its quest to excel in medical innovation, treatment and research year after year. The results of FY09 are indicative of the collective efforts and endeavour of the Group to provide the highest quality of health care services in India. It is for this reason that Apollo today ranks among the best hospital groups of the world."

"We laud the progressive policies of the Government of India in health care," added Dr Reddy, "We stand equally committed to further the quality, accessibility and innovation in health care services in line with the nation's policies and priorities towards 'health for all'." Towards this direction, the group is setting up quality tertiary care facilities in Tier 2 cities and District Headquarters through its "Apollo Reach Hospitals" initiative.

Through 2008-09 Apollo added another 200 beds to take the total number of beds, under the brand and management of the Apollo Hospitals Group, to 7450 beds while the total number of beds collectively under the ownership of AHEL, and its associates, subsidiaries, joint ventures stood at 4356 beds.

Two new hospitals at Karimnagar (in Andhra Pradesh) with 120 beds and Karur (in Tamil Nadu) with 70 beds were commissioned. Overall, the hospital occupancy stood at 76 per cent; the ALOS (average length of stay) was lower at 5.15 days compared to 5.18 days in the previous year.

The Apollo Hospitals Group's Chain of Standalone Pharmacies has gained significant reputation for dispensing quality drugs and other medical consumables. There are now 873 standalone pharmacies operational with the addition of 297 standalone pharmacies during FY09- a growth of 50 per cent, ensuring better and timely services for patients. The network of pharmacies is expected to be on expansion mode for the next year as well.

Apollo for over 25 years has continuously excelled and maintained leadership in medical innovation, world-class clinical services and cutting edge research. With a network of over 8000 beds at culturally diverse locations, over 4000 top class clinicians and a total employee strength of 60,000 professionals, Apollo is one of the largest hospital groups in the world and the hospitals are consistently ranked amongst the best hospitals globally for advanced medical services.

Apollo's model of healthcare delivery is growing in recognition as a healthcare system of the future. The Group has efficiently utilized multiple levers including state-of-the-art technology, clinical excellence and appropriate facility models to provide world-class clinical services at competitive costs. Today, Apollo is a healthcare institution par excellence and is the front runner in healthcare services delivery.

Harnessing advances in technology, Apollo Hospitals has been the pioneer in bringing to India, several new breakthrough technologies such as 320 Slice CT Scanner -the first of its kind in India; Asia Pacific's most advanced CyberKnife, a new ray of hope in cancer care; and the Novalis - the world's most powerful NS versatile platforms for non-invasive, image-guided radiosurgery. Patients with intracranial, spine, lung and prostate tumours have already benefited from the Apollo CyberKnife treatment.

Apollo Speciality Cancer Hospital has been treating patients from across India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Oman, Sri Lanka, Iraq, Iran and Pakistan. Another pioneering program has been the liver transplant programme in India: Apollo Hospitals Chennai has performed the largest number of cadaver liver transplants in the last one year and has changed the scenario of liver transplantation in southern India.

The group companies of Apollo Hospitals have also registered sound and praise-worthy performances. Apollo Gleneagles Hospitals, Kolkata has shown a positive profit after tax during the year ended March 2009. Apollo Hospitals International Ltd, Ahmedabad and Imperial Hospitals and Research Center, Bangalore have shown positive EBIDTA for the year ended March 2009.

A major expansion plan with an investment of Rs 150 crore at Apollo Health City, Hyderabad, and Asia's first operational health city is planned. As part of this expansion, Apollo has acquired Novalis TX Radio surgery. A state-of-the-art Knee Institute, Bariatric Surgery Institute and Institute for Aesthetics and Cosmetic Surgery are currently in the process of being added to the Health City offerings.

The first of its kind in the state of Orissa, a 350-bed multi-speciality tertiary hospital at Bhubaneswar will be commissioned shortly. Soon Apollo Children's Hospital, Chennai, the group's first standalone paediatric hospital will be inaugurated.

Emblematic of clinical excellence, six hospitals in the group have been accredited by JCI, the gold standard international accreditation. Besides, the Apollo Hospitals Madurai has received the prestigious NABH accreditation. The NABH accreditation focuses on learning, self-development, improved performance and reducing risk. Its assessment goes beyond compliance and calls for excellence on continued basis.

Apollo Hospitals has entered into a partnership with Quintiles Transnational Corp. to open a phase I clinical trial unit in Hyderabad. The unit will allow customers additional options to complete integrated phase I programmes across multiple geographies at this pivotal stage in medical research.