May 16 (SeeNews) - Romanian privately-owned medical services provider MedLife [BSE: M] said its net profit increased 3.8% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2018, reaching 4.39 million lei ($1.13 million/ 948,191 euro).
MedLife's operating profit fell 3.5% on the year to 9.6 million lei in the three months through March, the company said in an interim financial report filed with the Bucharest Stock Exchange, BVB, on Tuesday.
"We are following our development and expansion strategy, and the results reflect what we designed. We have already announced the first purchases this year, Solomed and Ghencea Medical Center, which is an ongoing transaction, and we continue to advance on this segment," MedLife CEO and president, Mihai Marcu, said.
The company is also considering a new series of greenfield projects as well as development of new business lines, Marcu added.
Medlife's turnover increased by 20% on the year to 176 million lei in the first quarter of 2018, led by a significant growth in all business lines, mainly pharmacies, labs, clinics and dental segments.
MedLife's total assets increased 2.04% compared to end-2017, to 615.6 million lei at the end of March.
The healthcare provider swung to a net profit of 8.7 million lei in 2017, from a loss of 1.24 million lei in 2016, mainly due to the translation of the rise in the operating profit into the net result.
In March, MedLife acquired 80% shareholding interest in local medical services provider Solomed Group for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition of Solomed's majority stake was MedLife's 19th acquisition.
In December 2016, MedLife raised 230 million lei through a fully subscribed initial public offering of a 44% stake.
MedLife shares traded flat at 32.5 lei on the BVB as at 0856 CET on Wednesday.
(1 euro=4.6283 lei)