Operator
Good day and welcome to the Jupiter Life Line Hospitals Limited Q1 FY27 earnings conference call. As a reminder, all participant lines will be in the listen-only mode.
There will be an opportunity for you to ask questions after the presentation concludes. Should you need any assistance during this conference, please signal for an operator by pressing * and then 0 on your touchtone telephones.
I now hand the conference over to Dr. Ankit Thakker, Managing Director and CEO.
Thank you and over to you, sir.
Ankit Thakker
Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us this Monday morning for our earnings call for Q1 FY27.
I hope you all had a chance to view our financial results and investor presentation, which were posted on the company's website and the stock exchanges. I am joined today by Mr.
Anand Apte, our Chief of Business and Strategy; Mr. Aditya Gupta, our Senior VP of Corporate Affairs; Mr.
Nitin Patodi, our Head of Finance; and our investor relations advisors. The key update from this quarter is that Dombivli hospital has completed its first full quarter of operations.
The reception from both the patient and the medical community has been warm and encouraging. This quarter has contributed to a 9.5 crore drag on the EBITDA, pretty much in line with anticipation.
The other three operating hospitals and the three upcoming projects are all on track and progressing on similar lines as discussed earlier. Let me directly give you the financial update and then open up the floor for questions.
Total income for the quarter stood at 411 crores in Q1 of FY27. The EBITDA stood at 79.3 crores and with a margin of 19.3%.
The PAT was 37.5 crores. The ARPOB for the quarter is 73,500 and the ALOS is at 3.76 days.
The average occupancy rate stood at 59.6% this quarter considering the dilution on account of the expanded base of Dombivli beds. With this, I open the floor for questions.
Thank you.
Operator
Thank you very much, sir. Ladies and gentlemen, we will now begin with a question and answer session.
Anyone who wishes to ask a question may enter * followed by 1 on the touchtone telephones. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you may enter * followed by 2.
Participants are requested to please use only handsets while asking a question. We will wait for a moment while the question queue assembles.
The first question is from the line of Dhvani Shah from DSP. Please go ahead.
Dhvani Shah
Hi. Thank you for this opportunity.
I had a couple of questions. Firstly, on the Indore unit, how I'm looking at it is the standalone numbers and the consol numbers, the differential.
Just wanted to understand while the revenue growth is 10%, we understand on a higher base last year, the EBITDA margins have come in at a lower 12%. How are we thinking about this and is there anything specific you want to call out for this quarter?
Yeah.
Ankit Thakker
Hi, Dhvani. Indore, as I said, we are getting ready for the next phase of expansion.
We have had some new team buildup, new doctor hires, etc. The higher cost this quarter is on account of anticipated growth in the rest of the year and higher HR-related costs.
Dhvani Shah
Would you be able to quantify this number?
Ankit Thakker
I don't have the exact quantified number, but a couple of crores of new hires from Indore.
Dhvani Shah
Okay. Just on a like-for-like basis, excluding the 5 crore revenue earned last year in Dombivli and 9.5 crore loss that we took on, can we expect a 13% to 14% growth in the existing units' EBITDA this year as well?
Ankit Thakker
As I've said earlier, I don't model it on a unit-to-unit basis, but qualitatively I could help you understand the existing units better. Thane unit is around mid 70% occupancy, 75-odd percent, which means that it will only improve in line with inflationary pricing, not leaving too much more growth opportunity besides that.
The Pune unit has low 60% or mid 60% occupancy, and therefore, besides the pricing, it will grow a little faster than Thane because of occupancy opportunities. Indore, as I just outlined, we are gearing up to improve our occupancy over the next remaining part of the financial year.
That should grow faster than the other two.
Dhvani Shah
Okay. Just one last accounting question.
See, last year in the Q2 numbers, we had seen a change on accounting policy mainly due to the unbilled revenues. How do we think about this affecting the next two, three quarters' growth or should we not see anything?
Ankit Thakker
Unbilled revenue, honestly, is not a huge factor because it was a one-time factor because of change in policy last quarter. Otherwise, like-for-like, it essentially negates each other out because at the beginning of the quarter, you lose out on part of the revenue, and in the end of the quarter, you gain a part of the unbilled revenue.
For a steady-state operations like a hospital where there isn't too much of day-to-day revenue volatility or occupancy volatility, it should not really matter too much. Except for that one-time change where you saw a little higher bump in revenue because it was the first time we recognized unbilled, after that if you see, it will be largely canceling each other out.
Dhvani Shah
Fair. Just one last thing on Dombivli.
Just want to understand what kind of fixed costs are we operating on per-quarter basis and are we done with all the doctor hiring in Dombivli?
Ankit Thakker
Doctor hiring is an ongoing process. Yes, we have first round of specialists in pretty much all branches in place, but doctor hiring is likely to continue for a couple of years because as we keep adding subspecialties, adding more doctors in each specialty, etc.
When you start, you start with a few and you keep adding for the first couple of years. That is on the doctor hiring question.
Fixed costs, I think, should be 6-7 crores for a month currently.
Dhvani Shah
Understood. Thank you so much for this.
Ankit Thakker
Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. Participants with questions, please enter * followed by 1 on your handset.
The next question is from the line of Palkesh Jain from Transparent Value. Please go ahead.
Mr. Jain,
Palkesh Jain
hello?
Operator
Please ask your question. We are not able to hear you.
Yeah.
Palkesh Jain
Sorry, sir. Thanks for the opportunity.
I just had a couple of questions. First is you had guided for the operational EBITDA loss of around 2 to 3 crore for Dombivli per month.
Jain,
Ankit Thakker
your voice is not clear. It is very muffled.
I'm not able to understand what you're saying.
Palkesh Jain
Hello, is it now clear?
Ankit Thakker
Slightly better, not great.
Palkesh Jain
Okay. Sorry.
You previously guided for operational EBITDA loss of 2 to 3 crore per month.
Ankit Thakker
Yes.
Palkesh Jain
Was that guidance based on currently operational 200 beds, or did it factor the commissioning of 300 beds?
Ankit Thakker
It is based on the currently operating beds.
Palkesh Jain
Okay. One more question.
Also, as the new additional beds become operational, should we expect the EBITDA loss to increase temporarily before improving?
Ankit Thakker
I'll just repeat the thought process which I have outlined in some of the earlier calls, and this holds true for this project and future projects. The way we think about ramp-up is that in phase one, when we start with, let's say, around 200-odd beds, there is a initial EBITDA drag for the first 2 years.
After that, once we reach a operational occupancy of about 60% of the installed beds, we will add capex and add capacity so to the tune that the occupancy falls down to, let us say, around 40%. When we do this, there may be a little drop in margins, but it will not result in an EBITDA loss.
Once this expanded capacity then starts growing and again reaches the 40%, we'll carry out the next round of capex and occupancy expansion so that again the occupancy drops to 40, which may again result in a compression of margin, but it will not result in loss. Operational EBITDA drag or losses are only anticipated in the initial 1 or 2 years of operations.
After that, you will see fluctuating percentage of occupancy and margin, but you will not see losses in EBITDA. That is the way we plan to ramp up this and the future hospitals.
Palkesh Jain
Understood. Thank you, sir.
Ankit Thakker
Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. Thank you.
Participants who wish to ask any questions may enter * followed by 1. The next question is from the line of Sucrit Patil from Eyesight FinTrade.
Please go ahead.
Sucrit Patil
Good morning to the team. My first question to Mr.
Ankit is beyond the regular outlook, I just want to understand what are the top two to three execution priorities you are focusing on in the next few quarters. Alongside that, what do you see as the biggest risk in borrower demand shifts, interest rate movements, or competitive pressures?
How are you preparing—
Ankit Thakker
Continue. As
Operator
the line for the current participant was disconnected, we will move on to the next question. The next question is from the line of Dikshant Gupta from Geojit PMS.
Please go ahead. Yeah.
Dikshant Gupta
Hi, good morning, sir. I just wanted to know this quarter we have seen a 10% ARPOB growth.
Can you just explain the reasons behind it? Is it because of pricing or is it because of ramp-up?
Ankit Thakker
Two main factors of ARPOB growth are case mix improvement and contract renegotiations with insurance companies or pricing which happen on an ongoing basis. All ARPOB increases are combination of these two factors.
Dikshant Gupta
Okay. On an ongoing basis, what is the expectation that we can have?
Ankit Thakker
Broadly inflation-linked growth for the mature units and for the new units, higher than inflation because case mix keeps improving for a few years. You start a hospital with more of secondary kind of work and over the quarters or years, you start doing more and more of tertiary and quaternary.
First few years higher than inflationary growth in ARPOB, eventually once it matures, then only inflationary growth in ARPOB.
Dikshant Gupta
Okay. Coming to margin profiles for FY27, can we expect around 20%-21% for the full year?
Ankit Thakker
The margin for the last year pretty much accounts for the three mature hospitals. You can factor in out of all the contributory factors that I said, you can project how the other three hospitals will grow.
Dombivli, I have given a guidance of 2 to 3 crores of EBITDA loss every month. You'll probably have to model it with those two inputs.
Dikshant Gupta
Understood. Just last one from my side.
For Indore, what is the current occupancy?
Ankit Thakker
Around 50%.
Dikshant Gupta
50%. Thank you so much.
Ankit Thakker
Okay.
Operator
Thank you. Participants, if you have any questions at this time, please enter * followed by 1 on your handset.
The next question is from the line of Sakshi Pratap from Pratap Securities. Please go ahead.
Sakshi Pratap
Hi, sir. Thanks for the opportunity.
Just one question. At the current pace of patient additions, when do we realistically expect the Dombivli hospital to achieve EBITDA breakeven and your earlier guidance of 1.5 to 2 years, does that still hold?
Also, are you seeing the possibility of reaching breakeven sooner than that?
Ankit Thakker
No, the guidance still holds.
Sakshi Pratap
Understood. Thank you, sir.
Ankit Thakker
Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. For questions, please enter * and 1.
The next question is from the line of Amey Chalke from JM Financial. Please go ahead.
Amey Chalke
Thank you so much for taking my question and congrats for managing good numbers. I have joined the call late, if I have repeated a question, then please pardon me.
First question is on Dombivli hospital. Is it possible, Ankit, to give occupancy level at Dombivli at present?
Do you expect any increase in fixed costs in remaining of the quarters?
Ankit Thakker
Occupancy should be around 25%-30%, I think. Fixed cost, as I said earlier, in terms of doctors cost, the team buildup is likely to continue for the next couple of years.
On that account, the fixed cost can increase a little bit over the next year or two.
Amey Chalke
Sure. At present, how many doctors would be there in the unit?
Oh,
Ankit Thakker
on a full-time basis, maybe some 30-40 doctors; on a visiting basis, maybe more.
Amey Chalke
Sure. Maybe it can go up to 70-80 doctors at full capacity?
Ankit Thakker
Eventually, it will mimic all others, like what Thane has or Pune has, that and maybe more because the scale of the hospital is bigger than these two. At full capacity, of course, much higher than what we have now.
Amey Chalke
Sure. The second question I have is we have recently acquired a company to setting up IV unit.
If you can explain the strategic thoughts here and also we have seen hospitals having diagnostics and pharmacy companies, but we have never seen a hospital company acquiring a manufacturing plant. Your thought process would be helpful to understand what we are thinking here, and also it will help us to get some clarity on the capital allocation as well, because going ahead, we have so many hospitals lined up.
That is also one more question I have, how that will evolve going ahead.
Ankit Thakker
Sure. This is more of a backward integration for our pharmacy unit with the growing footprint of the hospital.
We have a line of sight to around 3,000 beds now. With that, we are exploring this as a little bit of a cost management or margin improvement strategy.
On the capital allocation front, as we disclosed and you might have noticed that one line of IV fluids costs 35-40 crores with the infra, not a very, very significant numbers considering the capex outlay of the hospitals that is already planned. What I want to tell you and everybody else is that this is not our entry into becoming a pharma company.
We continue to remain a hospital company, but this is to be seen as a backward integration of our pharmacy subsidiary.
Amey Chalke
Sure. Last question I have on our base business profitability.
It has improved sharply over last two quarters particularly. 4Q also it was well above 25%, 26%.
What are the key drivers here and which hospitals between Thane and Pune are driving this at present?
Ankit Thakker
I think Thane, Pune both have similar operating profile. In terms of this quarter, Q1 generally has been the weaker quarters.
Q1 and Q3, as I've said earlier, these two quarters are relatively weaker and Q2 and Q4 are relatively stronger quarters. Besides that, Dombivli continuing to drag in this quarter as well.
These are two key reasons of the current quarter performance compared to the previous ones. If we compare and contrast Thane and Pune, you won't really see too much difference to choose from in terms of margin profiles.
Amey Chalke
Sure. Pune has reached to the mature profile in terms of margin, seem to say, where Thane is.
Ankit Thakker
Pretty much, pretty much. Sure,
Amey Chalke
sure. Thank you so much and joining back.
Ankit Thakker
Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. Participants with questions may please enter * followed by 1 on your handset.
The next question is from the line of Abdulkader Puranwala from ICICI Securities. Please go ahead.
Yes, sir.
Abdulkader Puranwala
Thank you for the opportunity. Sir, if I look at your quarterly growth figures and compare this to FY26, we delivered close to a 14% growth from the four hospitals, and this quarter, we are at close to 16.4% with Dombivli kind of ramping up further.
Just wanted to understand while Thane you mentioned that it would grow in line with the inflationary price hike what you will take, at Pune, are we seeing some kind of a revenue growth slowdown in the quarter?
Ankit Thakker
Pune revenue growth can't be very sharp now because, as I said, you are at the mid 60% occupancy now. It can go to 75, but in terms of the base, it means the last 15-odd percent of growth opportunity.
The growth will not stagnate, but it will plateau from here onwards or slow down from here onwards in terms of percentage hike, unlike in the earlier phases where you see a more sharper growth. I don't know if that answers your question or you had something else in mind.
Abdulkader Puranwala
No, that's pretty well understood. Thank you.
Secondly, on Dombivli, in the first quarter itself when we've reached at 25% to 30% kind of an occupancy, and typically, I would believe that at 50% to 60%, this facility would kind of breakeven. Any reason why we are still holding on our guidance, specially after such a blockbuster start to that hospital?
Ankit Thakker
Guidance is kind of based on some assumptions of insurances and some past experiences. Currently, I don't think we want to be very adventurous and aggressive in guidance.
Let us see how the next one or two quarters perform and then if we think that there is need to revise, I'll be happy to do that. Just with one quarter behind us, I don't want to give you a very aggressive guidance.
Abdulkader Puranwala
Sure, sir. Last one, if I may.
FY26, you had a gross debt of say almost 509 crores. Sir, ahead with the capex lined up, how should we look at your debt levels?
Ankit Thakker
The specific capex outlay I have included in the presentation. The thought process is that our internal accruals, the cash in hand should pretty much see us through for the next few years.
Towards the end of that cycle, we may need some debt to finish the current round of capex, and at that time, we'll be happy to explore that debt. Currently, the board-imposed ceiling is debt of three times of EBITDA, but we think that we should be able to complete the current round well within that range.
Abdulkader Puranwala
Makes sense, sir. Thank you.
Ankit Thakker
Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. To ask questions, please enter * and 1.
The next question is from the line of Janardan Sharma. Please go ahead.
Hello. Good morning, everyone.
Thanks for the opportunity. We have observed that the shares pledged in favor of Catalyst Trusteeship have increased materially over the past few disclosures.
Could you help us understand whether this is due to additional debenture issuance, refinancing, or existing borrowings, or some other reasons? Also, could you quantify the outstanding debt secured by this pledged shares and let us know whether investors should expect any further increase in pledged shares going forward?
One more question: What is the total debt and cash as on books as of today? Thank you.
Ankit Thakker
Thank you. We did get some offline call about this because of which I am ready to answer your question now.
First, the pledge is not a promoter or a promoter group pledge. It is pledged by somebody else.
Two, from what I understood, the pledge has remained same. What has changed is the number of shares which have increased five times after the split, and someone erroneously reported it as a 5x multiplication of pledge.
That, to my understanding, the filing has also been corrected. This is a non-promoter pledge by somebody else which was erroneously reported as being magnified due to the split, but it is what it was earlier.
And
Ankit Thakker
Your last question was about debt and cash. Currently, we are at pretty much zero net debt.
I don't have the exact number, but roughly 500 crore of debt with 500 crores of cash broadly. That is the position.
All right. One more question: If we look at Jupiter Life Line Hospitals 15 years, 20 years down the line, where do you expect yourself and what are the challenges that you could see?
I'm talking about the long-term trajectory here about almost 15, 20 years. I just want to understand your view and where do you see our company going forward.
Thank you.
Ankit Thakker
On a more granular level, currently I only have a five-year visibility, which is we would like to see that all three projects that we have announced should be delivered in these five years. On a ongoing basis along the way, we continue to see a very, very strong demand-supply gap for organized healthcare in India, specifically in western India where we are planning to focus.
I think qualitatively what I can say is that we'll continue building more hospitals of the shape and style that you have come to see and expect from Jupiter over the years. The focus area for now remains west India.
On a granular and objective level currently, I can just talk about these five years.
Thank you. Thank you so much and really appreciate your time.
All the best. Thank you.
Ankit Thakker
Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, any questions, please enter * and 1.
The next question is from the line of Raj Mehta from Wisdom Advisors. Please go ahead.
Raj Mehta
Yeah. Hi, sir.
Good morning and thanks for the opportunity. Sir, could you share the current payer mix for the Dombivli hospital?
Additionally, once the insurance empanelment process is completed, what kind of improvement in occupancy do you expect over the next few quarters?
Ankit Thakker
Currently, in the initial phases, it's pretty much all self-paid patients with a little bit of the insurance comes in with two ways: a little bit of reimbursement-based insurance and a little bit of pre-authorized case-to-case based insurance. You never see a large insurance-based payer mix till the formal empanelment processes are over.
That is where Dombivli is even now. I can't really visualize the specific occupancy bump after the empanelment, but definitely it reduces a friction.
Reimbursement is seen as a cumbersome process for the patients. As soon as the friction point of reimbursement goes away and cashless empanelment comes in, it should definitely result in some kind of occupancy improvement.
Raj Mehta
Understood, sir. That was helpful.
Thank you and all the best.
Ankit Thakker
Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Anubhav Sangal from Anand Rathi.
Please go ahead.
Anubhav Sangal
Thank you for taking my question, sir. I just wanted a clarification.
As you mentioned that there is roughly around 500 crore of debt and 500 crores of cash, you have mentioned in the PPT that there was a higher finance cost owing to an increase in debt for ongoing capex. The 500 crore debt includes the increase in debt that you have mentioned?
Ankit Thakker
Your voice is a little unclear. What was the last line?
The 500 crore debt is
Anubhav Sangal
The 500 crore debt that you have mentioned for the higher finance cost owing to an increase in debt for ongoing capex that you have mentioned in the PPT
Ankit Thakker
Yeah.
Anubhav Sangal
Right. The 500 crore debt includes the increase in debt that you have mentioned?
Ankit Thakker
Yes. It is 500-odd.
The exact number, it will be there in the uploaded financials. This includes the final number.
Anubhav Sangal
Sir. Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. To ask questions, please enter * followed by 1.
The next question is from the line of Dikshant Gupta from Geojit PMS. Please go ahead.
Dikshant Gupta
Thank you for that opportunity. I perform Sir,
Operator
to interrupt, sir, we are not able to hear you very clearly.
Dikshant Gupta
Yeah. Hello?
Operator
Yes. Better.
Go ahead.
Dikshant Gupta
I just wanted to get your view currently, do we have any plans for getting CGHS for Dombivli? I know you had said that we are not compromising at first, but still given the CGHS rate hike expectation for Dombivli, would it be an option?
Ankit Thakker
Dikshant, what was that? Do you have plans for what?
Dikshant Gupta
CGHS
Ankit Thakker
No, I'm not able to hear you. I'm sorry.
Dikshant Gupta
Hello? For CGHS empanelment.
Operator
Sorry, sir, we're not able to hear you. Could you return to the question queue?
Dikshant Gupta
Hello, am I audible? A
Ankit Thakker
little bit.
Dikshant Gupta
Just wanted to get your view do we have any plans for CGHS for Dombivli right now?
Ankit Thakker
Not immediately, though again, as I had said earlier, with the revised pricing, we could consider it at some point in time, but not right away.
Dikshant Gupta
Okay. Which specialty is pending in Dombivli right now?
Ankit Thakker
Oncology is yet to be fully launched. The radiation and LINAC, etc., should come in by end of the year.
Dikshant Gupta
Yeah. Final question from my side: I just wanted to get your view more on the rationale behind choosing BKC as the location.
Given that it's a very premium area, it's not a residential area, why was a hospital chosen in such an expensive location?
Ankit Thakker
Your question has a little bit of answer embedded in it. It is a premium area and that is why it was chosen.
While BKC itself does not have too much of residents, but it is very accessible by a lot of residential locations within Mumbai. Also being 100 meters away from the bullet train, the entire drainage of the bullet train.
If you draw a 45-minute driving circle from the BKC location, you will be able to fit in more than half of all the residents of Mumbai. Essentially, it becomes one of the most accessible locations of Bombay city.
Dikshant Gupta
Okay. Thank you so much.
Ankit Thakker
Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Amit Ahuja from BJ Capital.
Please go ahead.
Amit Ahuja
Hello, am I audible?
Ankit Thakker
Yes.
Amit Ahuja
Yes. Oh, thank you for giving me this opportunity.
My question is on the Dombivli hospital. Could you provide an understanding on the month-on-month trend in patient footfall?
Are patients volume ramping up in line with your expectations and how do you see this trajectory evolving over the coming quarters?
Ankit Thakker
There is a gradual increase month on month for Dombivli hospital. It is ramping up pretty well on both interest from doctors and the patients.
As I said in couple of different answers earlier that we believe, A, the second year should be the breakeven year, which means that it will have to ramp up from now until then consistently. Second is insurance empanelment being a friction point for the patients.
Once that is behind us, that should also result in some improvement in footfalls.
Amit Ahuja
Oh, okay. Thank you for the option.
Ankit Thakker
Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, that was the last question.
I now hand the conference over to the management for closing comments.
Ankit Thakker
Thank you, everyone. I hope the answers were satisfactorily understood.
However, if there is any further clarification needed or if you have further questions, please feel free to contact the SGA team and they'll be able to put us in touch. Thank you and have a good day.
Operator
Thank you, sir. On behalf of Jupiter Life Line Hospitals Limited, that concludes this conference.
Thank you for joining and you may now disconnect your lines. Thank you.
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