• Patient numbers rise in first half of 2018 by 2.2% to reach 432,317 
• Revenues rise from 598.4 million euros in the previous year by 3.6% to reach 620.2 million euros
• EBITDA posts gain of 1.8% to 51.1 million euros; consolidated profit grows by 4.1% to reach 17.6 million euros
• New build of RHÖN-KLINIKUM Campus in Bad Neustadt with Centre of Outpatient Medicine (ZaM) moving ahead apace; inauguration with official ceremony to be held in December 2018
• RHÖN-KLINIKUM AG confirms revenue and earnings outlook for 2018

RHÖN-KLINIKUM AG, one of the leading healthcare service providers in Germany, continued its successful trend in the first half of 2018 and once again reported a rise in revenues and earnings. At the five hospital sites RHÖN-Campus Bad Neustadt, the two university hospitals Giessen and Marburg, Zentralklinik Bad Berka and Klinikum Frankfurt (Oder) a total of 432,317 patients were treated during the reporting period. This translates into growth of 2.2% compared with the same period last year. The top 5 key areas of treatment are: cardiovascular, neurology, oncology, pneumology, orthopaedics and trauma medicine – they underscore the Company’s position as an innovative provider of particularly high-quality medical services.

“With the trend in our business figures, we are well on the way to achieving our targets for revenues and earnings for the current financial year”, said Stephan Holzinger, chairman of the Board of Management of RHÖN-KLINIKUM AG. “Our biggest project right now, with an investment volume of roughly 250 million euros, is the new build of the RHÖN-KLINIKUM Campus Bad Neustadt. We are right on schedule and will open in December. On the Campus, where the focus is even to a greater extent on patients with their individual conditions thanks to its close integration

of outpatient and inpatient care, we offer a convincing future model having a national impact in terms of medical-therapeutic healthcare delivery in rural areas. As a driver of innovation on the German hospital market, we are pursuing the aim of replicating this approach also in other rural regions. In this regard we are in initial constructive talks with selected regions.”

Revenues and profit up in first half of 2018

Compared with the same period last year, we posted gains in revenues, EBITDA and consolidated profit. Revenues rose from 598.4 million euros to 620.2 million euros (+ 3.6%), earnings before interest, taxes and depreciation/amortisation (EBITDA) increased to 51.1 million euros (+ 1.8%). It has to be underscored that the positive development in EBITDA in the first six months of financial year 2018 was accompanied by the anticipated wage increase and staff cuts whose effects were felt particularly during the second quarter of the current financial year. A burdening factor for earnings came from the regulatory measures following the Act Reforming the Structures of Hospital Care (Krankenhausstrukturgesetz, KHSG), such as the reduction in remuneration for cardiological and specialist orthopaedic services as well as the fixed cost degression discount applicable since 1 January 2017.

Consolidated profit improved to 17.6 million euros (+ 4.1%). These figures do not yet reflect the expected positive effect from the agreement reached with the Federal State of Hesse and the universities of Giessen and Marburg in the matter of cost reimbursements for research and teaching (separate accounting). That is because the last condition precedent has yet to be met, which RHÖN-KLINIKUM AG expects for this autumn. The successful agreement on separate accounting will have a positive impact on EBITDA in 2018, with a one-off effect of roughly 20 million euros.

Focus on implementation of campus strategy and digitalisation

To further step up efforts in rolling out the RHÖN Campus strategy to other locations in Germany, the specialist division of Corporate Development was created as of 1 June 2018. In close cooperation with the centralised Digital Transformation department, new potential business models arising from the opportunities created by digitalisation of telemedicine as well as the abolition of the ban on distance treatments are being explored. “The focal point of all strategic plans for us is the well-being of patients, since they provide the basis for our economic success”, said Stephan Holzinger. RHÖN-KLINIKUM AG offers them excellent medical services.

During the first half of 2018, RHÖN-KLINIKUM AG has been moving head steadfastly with key digitalisation projects that are to greatly simplify the daily work of doctors and nursing staff while making the care provided to patients more efficient and even safer. The one that has reached the most advanced stage is the Medical Cockpit, an intelligent search engine which processes the vast amounts of data and information in the form of doctor’s letters, X-ray findings and OR reports and enables the treating medical staff to gain a faster and more comprehensive overview on a platform. At the end of 2018, the Medical Cockpit is to be implemented in regular clinical operations at the new RHÖN-KLINIKUM Campus Bad Neustadt. It is slated to be rolled out to other hospital sites after being successfully introduced in Bad Neustadt. Further projects are the electronic patient file developed at the Company, which over the past months has been adapted even more to the needs of the hospitals and community-based practitioners, as well as various telemedical projects and digital anamnesis. 
 
The Group-wide action plan implemented in 2017 to raise profitability and efficiency is producing further successes. Internal processes in the cooperation with the Medical Review Board of the Statutory Health Insurance Funds (MDK) were optimised e.g. through improvements in training and better documentation quality so as to reduce losses of receivables. Efforts being made to enable a more efficient use of materials are also producing first successes: the adjusted cost-of-materials ratio fell for the first time in years, and in the first half stood at 28.1% after 28.3% in the same period last year. Moreover, maintenance and service contracts were scrutinised. We are currently preparing for renegotiations with the providers.

Outlook

For the current financial year 2018, RHÖN-KLINIKUM AG fully confirms the existing guidance. Revenues of 1.24 billion euros within a range of plus or minus 5 per cent are expected. Regulatory measures such as lower remuneration for services entailing high material cost intensity, particularly in the field of cardiology, or the fixed cost degression discount on surplus services, have to be taken into account as burdening factors. For earnings before interest, tax and depreciation/amortisation (EBITDA), we expect a much higher level compared with 2017 of between 117.5 million euros and 127.5 million euros – which in addition to other effects is favourably influenced by the agreement on separate accounting at UKGM. 

Contact:

RHÖN-KLINIKUM AG | Head of Corporate Communications and Marketing
Mrs. Elke Pfeifer
T. +49 9771 65-1327 | elke.pfeifer(at)rhoen-klinikum-ag.com

RHÖN-KLINIKUM AG | Head of Investor Relations and Treasury
Mr. Julian Schmitt 
T. +49 9771 65-1536 | julian.schmitt(at)rhoen-klinikum-ag.com