METRO PACIFIC Health Corp. (MPH) is aiming to acquire at least four hospitals this year, the company’s president said.
“The last two years were rather good, with four transactions made in 2023 and 2024… I’m hoping we can do the same, if not more, this year,” MPH President and Vice-Chair Augusto P. Palisoc, Jr. said during a recent briefing.
Mr. Palisoc said that MPH has been in talks with many hospitals for possible acquisitions.
“That’s what we do every day. We talk to all the hospital owners and try to find the deals that are more imminent and are already ripe,” he said.
MPH currently has 27 hospitals in its portfolio. The company’s latest acquisition took place in November last year with the addition of the City of General Trias Doctors Medical Center, Inc. in Cavite.
MPH is the healthcare arm of the Pangilinan-led conglomerate Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC).
MPIC Chief Finance, Risk, and Sustainability Officer June Cheryl Cabal-Revilla said MPH experienced double-digit growth in both revenue and net profit last year.
“The (profit) contribution is P560 million (in 2024) versus P330 million (in 2023), increasing by 50%. We actually added more hospitals. There is a plan to add more,” she said.
“From an organic standpoint, on a same-facility basis, we’re seeing growth even without the added hospitals. Our healthcare group is doing very well. Double-digit growth across all financial metrics, from revenues down to core income. This is due to increases in inpatient and outpatient census,” she added.
Some of the other hospitals under the MPH network include Makati Medical Center, Asian Hospital and Medical Center, Cardinal Santos Medical Center, Davao Doctors Hospital, and Riverside Medical Center.
For 2024, MPIC recorded a 41% jump in its attributable net income to P28.2 billion due to non-recurring gains from its real estate business and a lower interest bill.
MPIC is one of three key Philippine units of Hong Kong-based First Pacific Co. Ltd., the others being Philex Mining Corp. and PLDT Inc.
Hastings Holdings Inc., a unit of the PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has a majority stake in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave
