Business
Strategic expansion, digital & offline pharmacies driving growth: Dr Suneeta Reddy, Apollo Hospitals
Dr Suneeta Reddy, MD of Apollo Hospitals, highlighted the hospital segment’s performance: “Hospital did very well. A growth of 14% in revenues with a revenue of ₹3,183 crores, EBITDA at ₹790 crores representing a 17% increase in EBITDA and profits for the hospital of ₹422 crores representing a 21% improvement in profit.”
Occupancy rates for the quarter stood at 67.1%, slightly below expectations. “There was a 4% improvement in ALOS, which meant that we came down to 3.14 days. If we had been at four days ALOS, we would technically have been at 72% occupancy. So, we have carefully managed to reduce average length of stay to enable patients to really go home faster and to reduce their bills,” said Dr Reddy.
Apollo’s expansion plans remain aggressive. During the quarter, the company opened 100 beds in Pune and 40 beds in Defence Colony. By the first quarter of the next fiscal year, Apollo expects to open 1,035 beds across several new facilities, including Belenus Hospital in Sarjapur (Bangalore), Sonarpur (Kolkata), and Sandhya Elite (Hyderabad), with further expansion planned in Gurgaon.
Regarding profitability, Dr Reddy explained the company’s margin performance: “If you look at healthcare services, we are at a very healthy 24.8%. Apollo Health and Lifestyle is at 10.2%. They have grown their EBITDA margin by 141 basis points. Apollo Healthco is at 4.5%, but that is a different retail business. Offline pharmacies are at 7.8%.”
The pharmacy segment continues to grow strongly, with Healthco adding 185 physical pharmacies this quarter, bringing the total to 7,113—the largest pharmacy network in India. “They have a private label share of 15.53%, which is giving them the margin of 7.8, a very healthy margin, which has improved by 12 basis points. The offline continues to grow with the GMV of ₹525 crores for the quarter, and they have three sources of revenue—insurance, doctor consult, diagnostics, and delivering pharmaceutical products at home—all of them growing at somewhere 23% but growing strongly at 20%,” she added.
The company’s Health and Lifestyle business, despite being loss-making, showed strong growth with a 20% revenue increase and a 39% jump in EBITDA. Dr Reddy expects the segment to turn profitable in the next quarter: “If you look at the different lines of the business, they are all profitable. A little bit of focus on admin costs, etc., they should be profitable, and they are growing the diagnostics scale, which is giving them a healthy 10.8% margin. That margin trajectory will grow.”On the international front, Apollo is focusing on project work and consultancy rather than setting up hospitals overseas. “We have got about ₹20 crores of revenue from the work that we do and project in,” Dr Reddy noted.
Apollo’s capital expenditure plan for expansion includes 1,385 new beds at an estimated cost of ₹2 crores per bed, totaling ₹3,000 crores for the current phase, with another ₹3,000 crores planned for the next phase. Regarding other business verticals, Dr Reddy said: “Healthco is now, it will become a separate company. It is fully capitalised, requires no further capital. Apollo Health and Lifestyle is looking at some restructuring that will bring it capital for growth…Apollo is always there to support them with capital for growth.”
With strong operational performance and strategic expansion plans across hospitals, pharmacies, and lifestyle businesses, Apollo Hospitals continues to reinforce its position as a leader in India’s healthcare sector.
In 2025, Thailand’s border and transit trade reached 1.93 trillion baht, growing 6.7%. Transit trade surged 24.4%, driven by exports like durian and hard drives, despite slower border trade. Six trade fairs are planned for 2026.
Key Points
- In 2025, border and transit trade reached 1.93 trillion baht, a 6.7% rise from the previous year, aiding the growth of the border economy. Trade with neighboring countries amounted to 894.19 billion baht, while transit trade soared by 24.4% to 1.04 trillion baht, with China as the top destination.
- Major exports included fresh durian, hard disk drives, and rubber. However, border trade slowed in the latter half of the year due to issues at the Thai-Cambodian border and Myanmar’s import restrictions. Nonetheless, robust transit trade sustained overall growth.
- Looking forward, the Department of Foreign Trade plans to host six border trade fairs across different provinces in fiscal year 2026. These events will enable entrepreneurs to showcase products, engage in business matching, and expand trade channels, further supporting border economic activity.
The Department of Foreign Trade reported that border and transit trade in 2025 totaled 1.93 trillion baht, a 6.7 percent increase from the previous year and supporting continued growth in the border economy.
The department reported that trade with four neighboring countries reached 894.19 billion baht, while transit trade to third countries totaled 1.04 trillion baht. Transit trade grew by 24.4 percent, the highest on record.
China remained Thailand’s largest transit trade destination at 608 billion baht, followed by Singapore and Vietnam. Major exports included fresh durian, hard disk drives, and rubber.
The department noted that border trade slowed in the second half of the year due to the Thai–Cambodian border situation and Myanmar’s import controls. However, strong transit trade remained a key driver, allowing overall trade to maintain solid growth.
Looking ahead, the Department of Foreign Trade will organize six border trade fairs in six provinces during fiscal year 2026. These events will provide entrepreneurs with free opportunities to showcase products, participate in business matching, and expand trade channels, supporting border economic activity and strengthening alternative markets.
Source : Thailand’s Transit Trade Hits Record 1.04 Trillion Baht in 2025
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Australia’s food ministers are expected to take a step closer to making nutrition labels, specifically the Health Star Rating System, mandatory for all packaged food products in the country.
Australia’s Food Ministers Push for Mandatory Nutrition Labels
According to a report by ABC News, the federal government, as well as five other states or territories, have said that they will be in favour of asking the food regulator to develop a formal proposal on how to mandate the Health Star Rating System.
A final decision will be made in around 12 months.
Federal Assistant Health Minister Rebecca White has claimed that the food industry did not meet its target of voluntarily applying the Health Star Rating labels to 70 per cent of packaged food and drink products. The target deadline was November 2025.
“What the data shows is we’ve only reached about 37 per cent take-up here in Australia,” said White. “That is well below what is expected.”
What Is the Health Star Rating System?
The Health Star Ratings are used to gauge the nutritional profile of packaged food. According to its official website, ratings range from 1/2 to five stars.
This means that the more stars you see on the packaging of the food item, the healthier it is.
Food manufacturers themselves are tasked with calculating the Health Star Rating for each product. The rating should then be displayed on the front packaging of food items.
The number of stars is usually based on the following:
- Total energy (kilojoules)
- Saturated fat, sodium (salt) and sugar content
- Fibre, protein, fruit, vegetable, nut and legume content
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King Charles III ‘Ready to Support’ Investigation Into Former Prince Andrew Over Epstein Links
Buckingham Palace has released a statement regarding King Charles III’s sentiments over the newest allegations against the former Prince Andrew.
The former prince, who now goes by the name Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, has been accused of passing confidential reports to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein while the former worked as a British trade envoy.
King Charles ‘Ready to Support’ Investigation
The Thames Valley Police has confirmed that it is assessing the new allegations against Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, according to a report by People.
In response, the Buckingham Palace released a statement that says, “The King has made clear, in words and through unprecedented actions, his profound concern at allegations which continue to come to light in respect of Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor’s conduct.”
“While the specific claims in question are for Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor to address, if we are approached by Thames Valley Police, we stand ready to support them as you would expect, the statement added.
Buckingham Palace’s statement also reiterates that “Their Majesties’ thoughts and sympathies have been, and remain with, the victims of any and all forms of abuse.”
William, Catherine Address Andrew’s Epstein Issues
William and Catherine, the Prince and Princess of Wales, have also broken their silence regarding the controversy surrounding Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.
According to a report by ABC News, a spokesperson for Kensington Palace said that “I can confirm The Prince and Princess have been deeply concerned by the continuing revelations.”
“Their thoughts remain focused on the victims,” the spokesperson added.
Shares in junior Podium Minerals closed trade Wednesday up 9 per cent to 7.1 cents, on the back of several notable executive appointments.
Sonja Horn
Chief Executive Officer
Welcome to Entra’s fourth quarter presentation brought to you here from Oslo. Let me start by enlighting you on what you can see on this picture. This is Christian Krohgs gate 2 in Oslo, our planned redevelopment project, which we, in the quarter announced that we have entered into a partnership with Skanska to develop.
So moving on to the highlights. Rental income of NOK 787 million in the quarter. That is NOK 20 million up compared to same quarter last year, meaning also that the effects from previous divestments have been offset by an increase through projects feeding into the management portfolio. Net income from property management of NOK 425 million in the quarter, that is up with NOK 108 million compared to same quarter last year, mainly explained by the completion and divestment of our project in Trondheim. The net value changes in the quarter were NOK 56 million. And in that, we have also included the positive value uplifts on the investment properties of NOK 111 million. Profit before tax of NOK 476 million in the quarter, and our EPRA NRV is up with NOK 2 per share to NOK 169 in the fourth quarter. We’ve had a good quarter in respect of operations with a positive net letting of NOK 4 million, and we have also completed 3 projects this quarter, one new build project in Trondheim, which also has been forward sale. So upon closing of that transaction, we have taken a gain of NOK 101 million in the fourth quarter.
And our Board has decided to
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