ASKLEPIOS nearly doubles stake in Mediclin
Privately-held German hospital operator Asklepios has all but doubled its stake in Mediclin, the publicly quoted, German reha/hospital group. It now holds 20.2%, having previously acquired a 10.6% stake in the autumn of 2008.
The move has puzzled analysts.
Mediclin made a net profit of €7.1m on sales of €457, and 55% of its sales are in rehabilitation, an area where occupancy rates are low and where it made a €200,000 operating profit on sales of €245.6m.
Mediclin profits could be all but wiped out this year, after a landlord who has not charged rent for three years demanded €8m.
Volker Klein, analyst at Commerzbank, confidently predicted two months ago that Asklepios would not increase its stake.
He remains puzzled: "I don’t see a strategic rationale. The recession will hit reha rates. Assuming that Asklepios has an EBIT of 8%, a little less than its publicly quoted rivals Rhoen and Helios, then buying Mediclin would dilute its earnings."
But he thinks it is now likely that Asklepios will go for control, possibly buying a stake from Ergo, the big insurer, which has a 60% stake in Mediclin.
Mediclin investor relations manager Alexandra Muehr said that 55% of Mediclin’s sales were from reha, where it has 23 units, and that the other 45% were from its 8 hospitals.
She agreed that reha overall was suffering, but disputed Klein’s assertion that it was particularly badly hit in a recession: "A lot of reha is mandatory – you have to go to reha if you have a hip replacement. Mandatory reha is 60% of our reha business.
"The remaining 40% is voluntary, but that includes a lot of work which is for psychological illnesses, where the patient certainly does need the treatment."
Asklepios has not given a detailed rationale for the move.