Asklepios Kliniken: Consolidated net operating income impacted by continuing coronavirus pandemic

Asklepios Kliniken: Consolidated net operating income impacted by continuing coronavirus pandemic

EQS Group

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DGAP-News: Asklepios Kliniken / Key word(s): Quarterly / Interim Statement
26.11.2020 / 18:00
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.*Asklepios Group: Consolidated net operating income impacted by continuing coronavirus pandemic*

· Patient numbers down by around 30%
· Net operating income impacted by effects of coronavirus

*Hamburg, 26 November 2020. In July 2020, Asklepios Kliniken GmbH & Co. KGaA completed the acquisition of RHÖN-KLINIKUM AG. As of the end of the third quarter of 2020, RHÖN's results for July, August and September are included in the Asklepios Group's financial statements for the first time. This first-time consolidation means that the published figures are comparable with neither the previous year nor the preceding quarters. The continuing COVID-19 pandemic had a negative impact on the Asklepios Group's development in the period from January to September of the current financial year.*

In the first nine months of 2020, the Asklepios Group's revenue amounted to EUR 3,070.9 million (9M 2019 excluding RHÖN: EUR 2,637.3 million). Consolidated net operating income (EAT) for the period from January to September 2020 was impacted by depreciation, amortisation and impairment of EUR 197.4 million. In addition, the acquisition of RHÖN increased interest and similar expenses by around EUR 5.0 million. Overall, net operating income (EAT) for the period amounted to EUR 57.5 million (9M 2019 excluding RHÖN: EUR 84.0 million), corresponding to a return on sales of 1.7% (9M 2019 excluding RHÖN: 3.2%).

"The next few months will still be enormously challenging for us, both medically and economically. Bureaucracy and arbitrary political decisions are making it even more difficult to plan ahead - and this applies to all hospitals equally. A viable agreement is therefore essential for us. Although the adoption of the German Third Civil Protection Act is a start, it is not enough from our point of view," emphasises Kai Hankeln, CEO of the Asklepios Group. "This makes it all the more important for us, together with RHÖN, to complement each other on many different levels, to learn from one another and establish a stable positioning together for the benefit of patients and employees. It can already been seen during the coronavirus pandemic that both companies are making a significant contribution to ensuring healthcare in Germany."

In the period from January to September 2020, the healthcare facilities of the Asklepios Group, not including the RHÖN hospitals, treated a total of 1.25 million patients - representing a year-on-year decrease of more than 30% due to the pandemic (9M 2019: 1.86 million). The RHÖN hospitals treated around 607,000 patients in the same period. With 36,611 full-time equivalents on average, Asklepios had more employees than in the same period of the previous year (9M 2019: 36,098), while RHÖN also significantly increased its number of employees year-on-year to 18,242 (9M 2019 RHÖN: 17,899). Together with RHÖN, the Asklepios Group currently has around 32,508 beds.

On 28 October 2020, Asklepios took advantage of the good environment for transactions on the non-cyclical healthcare market and placed a schuldschein loan agreement of over EUR 730 million. The funds generated in this way were used entirely for refinancing, particularly for the early repayment of the acquisition financing that Asklepios borrowed in connection with the RHÖN transaction.

"The hospital market is very challenging at present. Financing security and a balanced maturity profile with financial flexibility are therefore extremely important to us, as well as optimisation of our capital costs," says Hafid Rifi, CFO of Asklepios. "Our focus now is on continuing the integration of RHÖN and dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. This means that we need to take advantage of the strong structures and synergies for our healthcare facilities so that we can fulfil our healthcare mandate together -particularly in the context of the continuing coronavirus pandemic and the effects on our economic development."

The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic will remain the defining issue for the healthcare sector for the rest of this financial year and beyond. The financial implications are still impossible to gauge in any detail. The respective German states' payments for hospital operators has not yet been finalised. Potential regulatory restrictions and their influence on the remuneration structure will also make an impact. Regardless of this, Asklepios will proceed with RHÖN's integration, further expand the strategic partnership and thus continue on its growth trajectory.

Our quarterly report for Q3 2020 and the corporate news can be found at www.asklepios.com/ir


*About Asklepios*

Asklepios was established in 1985 and is now one of the largest private hospital operators in Germany with more than 160 healthcare facilities. Its 49,000 employees treat more than two million patients a year. In Hamburg, Asklepios operates the largest private hospital cluster in Europe. MediClin AG has been majority-owned by the Asklepios Group since 2011, as has RHÖN-KLINIKUM AG since 2020. In addition to university hospitals, maximum care hospitals, specialist hospitals and rehabilitation clinics, Asklepios also operates medical service centres, software companies and e-health companies. The family-owned company is also playing a leading role in the digitalisation of the German health system as "Digital HealthyNear".

*IR contact*
Mirjam Constantin
Investor Relations
Asklepios Kliniken GmbH & Co. KGaA
Debusweg 3 - 61462 Königstein-Falkenstein
Tel.: +49 61 74 90-1166
Fax: +49 61 74 90-1110
ir@asklepios.com

*PR contact:*
Rune Hoffmann
Head of Corporate Communications & Marketing
Asklepios Kliniken GmbH & Co. KGaA
Rübenkamp 226 - 22307 Hamburg
Tel.: +49 40 1818-82 6630
Fax: +49 40 1818-82 6639
presse@asklepios.com

Visit Asklepios online, on Facebook or on YouTube:
www.asklepios.com
www.asklepios.com/ir
www.facebook.com/asklepioskliniken
www.youtube.com/asklepioskliniken

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26.11.2020 Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a service of EQS Group AG.
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

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