RHÖN-KLINIKUM AG / AGM/EGM/Final ResultsRelease of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a company of EquityStoryAG.The issuer / publisher is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
RHÖN-KLINIKUM AG, Bad Neustadt/Saale - Annual General Meeting - 2007: Revenues € 2.02 billion / net consolidated profit € 111.2 million /investments € 180.9 million / operating cash flow € 191.0 million /earnings € 1.03 per ordinary share / shareholders’ equity according to IFRS€ 810.8 million / 1.5 million patient treatments / 32,222 employees /dividend increase by 12% to € 0.28 2008: First quarter – revenues of € 520.7 million / net consolidated profit€ 29.6 million / earnings per share € 0.27 / operating cash flow € 52.0million / investments € 40.3 million / 410,194 patient treatments / 32,303employees Outlook: Forecast for 2008 confirmed – revenues of € 2.08 billion and netconsolidated profit of € 123 million / impact of economic and politicalfactors on company strategy / integrated growth strategy Bad Neustadt a.d. Saale/Frankfurt am Main, 17 June 2008 ----- At today’sAnnual General Meeting of the listed hospital group Rhön-Klinikum, thefigures of the past financial year played only a subordinate role: the mostimportant key figures for 2007 had already been presented and discussed atthis year’s Results Press Conference on 24 April 2008, and the results ofthe first quarter of 2008 were published on the same day. The 2007 AnnualReport as well as the quarterly report for the first quarter of 2008 areposted on the Internet at www.rhoen-klinikum-ag.com.2007: Revenues were lifted 4.8% to € 2.02 billion (previous year: € 1.933billion); net consolidated profit rose by 1.9% to reach € 111.2 million(previous year: € 109.1 million); earnings per ordinary share stood at €1.03 (previous year: € 1.01); shareholders’ equity according to IFRS was €810.8 million (previous year: € 728.7 million); operating cash flowrecorded growth of 15.8% – not including the one-off cash effect (amendmentof Section 37 (5) Corporation Tax Act) – to reach € 191.0 million (previousyear: € 165.0 million). A total of 1,544,451 patients (+10.8%; previousyear: 1,394,035) were treated in the 46 hospitals belonging toRHÖN-KLINIKUM Group at year-end.Q1-2008: Revenues rose by € 18.7 million to € 520.7 million (Q1 previousyear: € 502.0 million); net consolidated profit recorded a smart rise of17.5% to reach € 29.6 million (Q1 of previous year: € 25.2 million);earnings per ordinary share stood at € 0.27 (Q1 of previous year: € 0.23adjusted; + 17.4%); operating cash flow stood at € 52.0 million (Q1 ofprevious year: € 45.9 million); in the first three months of 2008 theGroup’s hospitals treated a total of 410,194 patients (+ 5.5%; Q1 ofprevious year: 388,882); as at the reporting date, the Group employed atotal of 32,303 persons (31 December 2007: 32,222).On the whole, the Board of Management was pleased with both the results for2007 and with the first quarter of 2008. 'We have slightly exceeded ourprofit forecast for 2007 and have made a strong start into financial year2008', said Wolfgang Pföhler, chairman of the Board of Management ofRHÖN-KLINIKUM AG. 'We have succeeded in bucking the market trend, achievinggrowth and expanding our market share in Europe’s largest healthcaremarket. The Board of Management and the Supervisory Board jointly proposeto the Annual General Meeting an increase in the dividend from 25 to 28euro cents per share. The strong start into 2008 makes us optimistic. Forfull-year 2008 we are shooting for revenues of 2.1 billion euros and netconsolidated profit of 123 million euros. Already today, we have generatednearly half of this profit forecast. We thus expressly reaffirm ourforecast.'Pföhler attributed the good business position to the Group’s stable basis:'The expansion in service volumes is largely accounted for by organicgrowth. RHÖN-KLINIKUM AG has grown by its own strength', Pföhler added. Thereform impost, start-up financing for integrated care and the hike in VATwere completely compensated by rationalisation efforts and targeted actionplans for raising service volumes as well as expanding the productportfolio.The company’s sound basis is also seen in the fact that in particular theGroup’s long-standing hospitals had made a positive contribution to theGroup’s earnings. 'Also our largest subsidiary, UniversitätsklinikumGießen/Marburg, generated a profit of 1.1 million euros in 2007', Pföhlerstated. 'For me this demonstrates that our innovative operating andinvestment approach works at all levels of care.'Besides efforts to strengthen the inpatient area, attention has also beenfocused over the past year on expanding the offering in the outpatientarea. Thus, in 2007 a further six and in the first quarter of 2008 afurther three medical care centres (MVZs) were founded. The Group now has18 MVZs with a total of 55 accredited doctor licences. 'The outpatientmarket is in flux. Our growth opportunities are huge' Pföhler emphasised.Economic and political factorsIn response to the question 'What economic and political factors are havingan impact on our corporate strategy&#63', the chairman of the Board ofManagement of RHÖN-KLINIKUM AG named three key factors: development ofwages, privatisation trend at various levels of government (local, stateand federal) and the regulatory environment for the hospital market from2009 on.Wage trends were increasingly a problem for public facilities where higherwages and rising costs of material were leading to a financing bottleneck.'We at RHÖN-KLINIKUM AG counter rising personnel and material costs withtargeted measures for an expansion in regional offerings and additionalrationalisation measures. This is how we succeed in growing against thetrend and in strengthening our position on the market.'The good state of the German economy temporarily slowed the privatisationwave in 2007. For 2008, Pföhler once again expects heightened interest onthe part of the State in allowing private operators to take an interest inor completely take over public facilities.'In this connection I am pleased about the takeover of St. Petri-Hospitalin Warburg/North Rhine-Westphalia. The consolidation of our 47th Grouphospital will take place with effect from 1 July 2008.'Looking ahead to the impending reform within the German healthcare system,Pföhler takes a calm and composed stance: 'No matter what politiciansultimately decide, we will be able to manage within the frameworkconditions.' However, Pföhler does not see the desired 'major shift' out ofan administrated system of healthcare to a healthcare market as beinglikely right now; that said, he does welcome the clear trends towards morecompetition between healthcare providers and remains optimistic: 'We areconfident that we will be able to turn the greater manoeuvring room intohigh growth of the Group.'Integrated growth strategy Referring to the lead question 'Where does the focus of our integratedgrowth strategy lie&#63', the chairman of the Board of Management providedthose present with an insight into what the Management of the Company hasbeen looking at.'The State alone can no longer guarantee comprehensive and full-coveragehealthcare delivery for an ageing population', Pföhler stated. Theinvestment backlog had already reached as much as 50 billion euros. Ifeverything is left the way it is, a rationalisation of medical services and'two-tier medicine' will be the only possible outcome. 'This makes it allthe more important to have economically viable healthcare offerings if theentitlement of the population to healthcare is to be satisfied at all andif a high level of healthcare certainty and high-quality medical servicesare to be kept available close to where people live. This is exactly whereour core competence lies, and this is exactly where we are focusing ourefforts', the chairman of the Board of Management underscored. 'We areagainst fine, privileged private medicine and instead are aiming ataffordable cutting-edge medical care for all people in Germany – regardlessof where they are insured.'Pföhler then went on to outline the objective of RHÖN-KLINIKUM AG for acomprehensive offering of full-service medical care covering the entirerange of outpatient and inpatient medical services and meeting the highestlevel of quality and modern standards. 'To achieve this, we want to adoptnew approaches in the integration of the outpatient and inpatient sectors.The essential case for our integrated healthcare model is that the medicalofferings will not cost more than what is being spent overall on outpatientand inpatient services today.'The original business of acute inpatient medical care remained the mainstayof the Company and was to be expanded further. 'At the same time we willextend the foundation of our integration growth model by expanding the areaof outpatient-inpatient basic and standard care', Pföhler explained.He added that the establishment of a two-stage integrated care model wouldbe able to ensure a full-coverage and affordable healthcare network. 'Thecore idea is that patients receive neither an over- or underprovision ofcare, but instead will be provided with adequate inpatient and outpatientcare. The degree of severity of diseases in future will be closely linkedto the level of care at which the patient is treated' explained thechairman of the Board of Management. At the interface between theoutpatient and inpatient area, there are rationalisation reserves andgrowth potential. 'Above all, we are aiming at realising quality reservesin medical care and reaping cost and revenue synergies in an intelligentinteraction between sectors. We want to optimise processes between thedifferent healthcare sectors through an exchange of expertise and know-howwith outpatient doctors, since they are the ones who can build bridgesbetween sectors.'With the framework agreement concluded with the Association of PhysiciansAccredited under Statutory Health Insurance (KassenärztlicheBundesvereinigung), cooperation is to be made possible in a wide array offields. 'We are striving for an open alliance of providers to explore andimplement new ways for maintaining a solidarity-based system of healthcaredelivery' Pföhler emphasised.Note: This press release only contains the core ideas and considerations;the entire presentation will be published shortly on the homepage ofRHÖN-KLINIKUM AG – www.rhoen-klinikum-ag.com.Brigitte SallweySallwey & PartnerGrüneburgweg 41D-Frankfurt/MainTel.: (+49)(0)69-97 203 628Handy: (+49)(0) 171 6942 14017.06.2008 Financial News transmitted by DGAP
 Language: EnglishIssuer: RHÖN-KLINIKUM AG Schlossplatz 1 97616 Bad Neustadt a.d.Saale DeutschlandPhone: +49 (0)9771 - 65-0Fax: +49 (0)9771 - 97 467E-mail: fire.ir@rhoen-klinikum-ag.comInternet: www.rhoen-klinikum-ag.comISIN: DE0007042301WKN: 704230Indices: MDAXListed: Regulierter Markt in Frankfurt (Prime Standard), München; Freiverkehr in Berlin, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Stuttgart End of News DGAP News-Service