Dallah Healthcare’s Q4 misses estimates: AlJazira Cap

Dallah Healthcare Company’s fourth-quarter net profit of SAR 32.5 million came in below AlJazira Capital's expectations of SAR 44.8 million, due to higher operating expenses.

Revenues for the quarter stood at SAR 318.2 million missing the brokerage firm's estimate by 3.8 percent. The decline was attributed to lower in-patients and out-patients traffic along with the slow-ramp up of Namar hospital.

Gross margin for Q4 stood at 34.8 percent compared to 45.5 percent for the same quarter last year.

"Gross margins are expected to improve on the back of higher Namar hospital utilization, ending FY19 at 38.5 percent," the report noted.

AlJazira Capital assigned a "neutral" rating on the stock, setting the target price at SAR 55 a share.

"We expect a higher utilization rate from Namar hospital to be visible in H2 2019, along with the opening of Dr. Mohamed Alfagih hospital in Q2 2019. This should improve margins over the medium and long terms," the report added.