Universal Medical Announces 2017 Annual Results, Profit before Tax surges 30.7%

Universal Medical Announces 2017 Annual Results, Profit before Tax surges 30.7%
- Medical Financial Services Continued to Maintain a Good Momentum;
- Hospital Investment and Management Business Steadily Progressed

HONG KONG, Mar 27, 2018 - (ACN Newswire) - The board (the "Board") of directors (the "Directors") of Universal Medical Financial & Technical Advisory Services Company Limited (the "Company") is pleased to announce that the audited consolidated annual results of the Company and its subsidiaries (together, the "Group") for the year ended 31 December 2017.

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS
- The revenue amounted to approximately RMB3,419 million, representing an increase of 26.6% as compared with that of approximately RMB2,701 million for 2016.
- The profit before tax amounted to approximately RMB1,576 million, representing an increase of 30.7% as compared with that of approximately RMB1,206 million for 2016.
- The profit for the year amounted to approximately RMB1,149 million, representing an increase of 31.7% as compared with that of approximately RMB872 million for 2016.
- The total assets amounted to approximately RMB37,733 million, representing an increase of 30.3% as compared with that of approximately RMB28,965 million as at 31 December 2016.
- The total shareholders' equity amounted to approximately RMB7,469 million, representing an increase of 13.6% as compared with that of approximately RMB6,574 million as at 31 December 2016.
- The return on equity was 16.36%.
- The return on total assets was 3.44%.

In 2017, the Group continued to reinforce its operating foundation and each of its business segments developed in a synergetic and orderly manner. Medical financial services continued to maintain a good momentum. Hospital investment and management business steadily progressed under favorable policies and the contents of its medical technology services were further enriched. Healthcare digitalization business also made preliminary progress. In 2017, the revenue of the Group was RMB3,419 million, representing an increase of 26.6% over the last year. Profit before tax was RMB1,576 million, representing an increase of 30.7% over the last year. Net interest margin continuously increased, asset size steadily enlarged and asset quality remained good.

After years of development and accumulation, leveraging strong background as a central state-owned enterprise, the Group gradually built up its unique competitive strengths including abundant domestic and overseas medical resources, extensive customer network, professional business development capability and complete project evaluation system, having laid a solid foundation for the Group to become a leading medical and healthcare conglomerate in China.

Vigorously Promoting Hospital Investment and Management Business

In 2017, the Group made the best use of its own resource advantages, actively seized the opportunities brought by policies, and made greater efforts to promote the development of hospital investment and management business. On the one hand, the Group steadily moved forward the implementation of the projects under definitive agreements and the materialization of proposed cooperative projects. On the other hand, the Group seized the opportunity offered by the reform policies in relation to the spin-off of state-owned enterprises' hospitals and actively commenced negotiations and implementation of the consolidation of medical institutions of state-owned enterprises.

The International Land Port Hospital project progressed orderly -- First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University (the "First Affiliated Hospital") is a large-scale comprehensive Grade III Class A hospital administered by the National Health and Family Planning Commission (the "NHFPC") with leading medical technology and service quality in Northwest China. International Land Port Hospital ("International Land Port Hospital") is a branch of the First Affiliated Hospital. The Group's total investment amount for this project will be no more than RMB2 billion. In return, the Group is entitled to the construction and operation right of International Land Port Hospital as well as the exclusive business cooperation right with International Land Port Hospital and First Affiliated Hospital. As of the end of 2017, through public bidding, China IPPR International Engineering Company Limited and Tengbomgruppen AB had been selected as the designers for the construction project of International Land Port Hospital. Based on the implementation of project design, the Group completed various preparatory work for the construction such as geological prospecting. The earthworks for the project officially commenced in November 2017. In terms of supply chain operations, the project-related companies have been established or acquired, the warehouse has been renovated and reconstructed, the construction of the internal management system has been completed, information system has been launched on-line, and professionals have been recruited and trained. A management platform of transparent procurement of medical supplies has been set up as the only portal working with hospitals and distributors to carry out all the activities such as procurement, warehousing and payment review. As the technology tests of the platform had been completed in early March 2018 and the First Affiliated Hospital has published the notice letter in respect of the platform's operation to all the suppliers, the platform has been technically ready for its formal on-line operation. The next step would be pushing forward the relevant work in relation to taking over the supply chain of the First Affiliated Hospital.

The cooperation project of the new east district of Handan First Hospital progressed steadily -- On 31 August 2016, the Group signed a framework agreement with Handan First Hospital on the cooperation and joint construction of the new east district of Handan First Hospital. Handan is an important gateway city in southern Hebei and the central city in the region of Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan. Handan First Hospital is a large-scale comprehensive Grade III Class A hospital integrating medical care, teaching, scientific research, prevention, healthcare and rehabilitation with leading medical strength in Handan city. The new east district under planning and construction is positioned primarily as a specialized hospital and to a less extent, as a comprehensive hospital. In the future, the new east district and the hospital will jointly offer medical services to nearly 25 million people in the Shanxi- Hebei-Shandong-Henan region. At present, the preparation work for entering into definitive project contract is moving steadily forward.

Continuing to Improve Medical Financial Services

The Group continued to expand its medical finance business, strengthen its operating foundation and strive to achieve its development goals. In 2017, facing the increasingly fierce competition in the financial leasing market, the Group required its business teams to further strengthen the intensity of their operation in the relevant regions and continue to enhance business development, which enabled the Group to achieve a steady growth in assets and a sustained high return on interest-earning assets. At the same time, under the complicated domestic and overseas financial environment, the Group actively adjusted its financing strategies, optimized its debt structure, and worked hard to reduce cost rate of interest-bearing liabilities. Net interest margin continued to rise. As always, the Group implemented prudent risk control procedures and stringent asset management measures, and asset quality remained in the leading position among the industry peers.

Continuing to Expand Clinical Department Upgrade Services

With the continuous enrichment of medical resources, the Group's clinical department upgrade services were further expanded. The gross profit of the Group's clinical department upgrade services reached RMB137 million in 2017, representing an increase of 5.0% over the previous year. With healthcare resources diversifying, the Group further expanded its clinical department upgrade services and continued to promote the upgraded and innovative service model of cerebral stroke departments by systematical trainings on technology in respect of prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cerebral stroke and disease management, and formulated plans tailored for the development needs of hospital customers, striving to help hospitals raise the level of cerebral stroke prevention and treatment. Meanwhile, the Group has expanded the innovative model to other disciplines including ontology, gynaecology and obstetrics, cardiovascular department and rehabilitation. In October 2017, with the strong support of the Stroke Centre of Brain Disease Control Committee of the NHFPC, the Group successfully held Smile Stroke Conference and the 10th Sino-U.S. Cerebrovascular Disease Forum for the seventh consecutive year. The concept of cerebral stroke prevention, treatment and screening, advanced equipment and cutting-edge technologies were introduced to a number of county level hospitals in China. Recently, the Group also entered into framework agreements on technical training for cerebral stroke prevention and control projects with the Health and Family Planning Bureau of Handan City, Hebei Province, the Health and Family Planning Bureau of Xinyang City, Henan Province, Nanfang Hospital of Guangdong Province, Zhuhai Branch of People's Hospital of Guangdong Province (Central Hospital of Jinwan, Zhuhai City), Central Rehabilitation Hospital of Gansu Province, etc., continually promoting stroke prevention, screening and treatment capabilities of local healthcare institutions.

Enhancing Efforts to Cultivate Healthcare Digitalization Services

The Group grasped the opportunity of "Internet + healthcare" development, recruited talents in the field of healthcare digitalization at home and abroad, introduced advanced healthcare digital technology and experience in and outside China, and independently carried out the research and development of healthcare digital technology to provide hospital customers with customized and personalized Internet healthcare products. In December 2017, the Group, Qiqihar First Hospital and Yiyuan Doctor Group signed the Qiqihar First Hospital Healthcare Digitalization Cooperation Framework Agreement. The agreement provide for cooperation in six aspects, namely, diagnosis and treatment platform, healthcare digitalization, doctors' group, medical and health data, Internet healthcare industrial chain, and cooperation and expansion. The signing of the agreement represents a preliminary achievement of the healthcare digitalization business of the Group, laying a solid foundation for the continued expansion of the healthcare digitalization segment of the Group and the synergistic promotion of other businesses.

When it comes to future prospects, Mr. Guo Weiping, the Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of Universal Medical said that, "The year of 2017 was a year in which the Group made progress while maintaining stability and made impressive achievements based on accumulated efforts. We have been adhering to the integrated development strategy. While continuing to consolidate the medical financial business, we have steadily promoted the implementation of hospital investment and management projects either under definitive agreements or under cooperation intentions, and reinforced operating foundations for each business segment. In 2018, the Group will stick to the established development strategy, actively respond to changes in the market conditions, and actively seize the industrial development opportunities brought by national policies. The Group will continue to integrate internal and external quality resources, innovate business development models, and accelerate the business deployment all relevant sectors. Moreover, the Group will continue to improve the integrated medical service integrating medical finance, hospital investment and management, medical technical services and healthcare digitalization, and will strive to develop into a leading medical and healthcare conglomerate in China."


 
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