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ublicly listed Sarana Meditama Metropolitan, which owns and manages the Omni hospital chain, is looking to increase revenues by 20 percent as demand for hospital services remains high despite the recent economic slowdown.

The company, which saw revenues grow by 23.6 percent last year, hopes to book Rp 497.3 billion (US$37.3 million) in revenue this year, up from the Rp 441.42 billion it recorded last year, according to Sarana Meditama vice-president director Hassan Themas.

'€œTaking into account the current slow economic conditions, we have set our revenue growth target at 20 percent,'€ Hassan said on Thursday, adding that he expected the company'€™s new medical facilities this year to attract more customers.

The company has earmarked Rp 65 billion in capital expenditure (capex) this year to add more medical equipment, such as additional beds and blood-vessel-scan equipment, recruit more specialists and improve the hospitals'€™ infrastructure.

As of March this year, 20 percent of the capex had been spent on the renovation of hospital infrastructure and on extra equipment, Hassan told reporters after a shareholders meeting.

The domestic hospital business has outshone other sectors in the first quarter of this year, with double-digit net profit growth reported in January-March by three major listed hospital operators, despite the country'€™s overall economic slowdown.

Sarana Meditama booked 18.32 percent net profit growth in the January-March period of this year to Rp 13.82 billion, while Lippo Group-affiliated Siloam led the first quarter growth with a 28 percent surge in its bottom line to Rp 34.53 billion. Kalbe Group'€™s Mitra Keluarga registered Rp 145.08 billion in net profits, having grown by around 15 percent on an annual basis.

Hassan said the economic challenges that the country currently faced, such as the weak rupiah, did not affect his company too much.

'€œThe economic issues apparently do not affect us as much because this [the hospital business] is a defensive industry,'€ Hassan said.

Sarana Meditama, which currently operates two hospitals in Tangerang and Jakarta, is expanding its business by building a hospital in Cikarang, West Java. The Cikarang hospital, which sits on a 13.5 hectare site in The Oasis superblock area, will cost up to $30 million to build.

Hassan said Sarana Meditama expected the new hospital, which is due to open in May next year, to contribute at least 15 percent of consolidated annual revenues, or Rp 70 billion.

Sarana Meditama'€™s shareholders meeting on Thursday agreed to appoint new president director Umapathy Panyala to replace Budi Hadidjaja who has now become president commissioner. It also agreed to pay out 14 percent of the company'€™s 2014 net profits as dividends, totaling Rp 8.26 billion or equal to Rp 7 per share.

The company posted Rp 58.07 billion in net profits last year, a 24.5 percent rise from 2013.

Shares in Sarana Meditama, traded on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) under the code SAME, closed at Rp 2,790 on Thursday, having fallen 3.88 percent so far this year, while the Jakarta Composite Index (JCI) has dropped by 5.87 percent. (agn)