© Reuters.
Por Andre Romani
SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Hapvida (BVMF:) reported a 56.1% drop in adjusted net profit in the fourth quarter of 2022 from the same period a year ago, amid higher expenses and a loss rate, the health company said. this Tuesday.
The company had an adjusted net profit of 161.4 million reais. Without adjustments for the amortization of brands and patents and customer portfolios, as well as related to long-term incentives to executives, the company had a loss of 316.7 million reais, reversing a profit of 200.2 million reais a year earlier.
Analysts projected, on average, a loss of 235.5 million reais. It was not immediately clear whether the data was comparable with the projections.
Operating performance measured by adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) rose 52% from October to December against the same period of the previous year, to 598.7 million reais. Analysts, on average, expected Ebitda of 627.3 million reais.
Hapvida, which has been accumulating acquisitions in recent years, bought big rival Intermédica early last year and has been integrating its operations ever since, with analysts eyeing the deal’s impact on expense lines. The stock accumulates a drop of 11.6% this year, after several banks assume more negative perspectives for the company.
The group’s cash loss ratio was 72.9% in the quarter, an improvement of 0.1 percentage points compared to the immediately previous quarter and a decrease of 8.1 points on an annual basis. Hapvida stated in the results report that the indicator continues to be impacted by “higher frequencies of use, unfavorable seasonality, in addition to higher levels of loss ratio in the newly acquired companies”.
Hapvida’s net revenue grew 150.2% in 12 months, to 6.5 billion reais, impacted in particular by the acquisition of Intermédica. “Individually, revenues grow even with the impact of the negative readjustment of individual plans, estimated at 18.0 million reais for Hapvida and 11.7 million reais for NotreDame (BVMF:) (Intermédica)”, stated the company.
The group recorded jumps of 83.5% and 139.1%, respectively, in administrative and selling expenses, to 537.1 million reais and 523.9 million reais.