MedLife, one of the leading private healthcare operators in Romania, ended 2014 with an aggregate turnover of EUR 80 million and an EBITDA profit of EUR 13 million, up 25% year-on-year.

The results are in line with initial estimations and over the market’s growth rate of 7-8%, the company announced.

The company increased the number of surgeries and births while the number of subscribers went up to 330,000. It also registered growth in the number of paying customers (fee for service), reaching 4.3 million unique clients.

For this year, MedLife targets an organic growth of 16% to EUR 96 million, and of over 25% to EUR 100 million including new acquisitions. It also plans to increase the operating profit by 31% this year, to EUR 17 million.

When it comes to the company’s development plans for this year, MedLife representative focus on three strategic directions: a new series of green field projects, acquisitions, and new business lines.

“In the first half, more specifically in April-May, we’ll complete five large projects in Bucharest, almost simultaneously: a multidisciplinary hospital in Titan, a new hyperclinic in Berceni, a neurosurgery center in Ferdinand, a dental clinic in Unirii and a cardiology and interventional radiology center in Grivita. The latter are three new business lines,” said Mihai Marcu, president of MedLife’s board of directors. Marcu is also MedLife's majority shareholder.

The company also wants to expand the lab in Grivita, Bucharest. In the second half of the year, MedLife will expand the hyperclinic in Timisoara and will open a new large clinic in Cluj.

“In addition to these projects, we are talking with 3-4 healthcare operators for conducting some purchases on the local market, the minimum turnover per company being EUR 7-10 million,” added Marcu.

MedLife representatives believe that the local market for private medical services will increase by 10-12% this year, one of the drivers being the medical subscriptions segment.

MedLife is active on the Romanian market since 1996 and currently runs 13 hyperclinics, 18 test labs, 7 hospitals, 3 maternity hospitals, 12 centers of excellence with single specialization and 8 pharmacies grouped under the PharmaLife Med network.

In February this year, MedLife completed the acquisition of a 55% stake in Sama&Ultratest group of companies in Romania’s Oltenia region.

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Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com