Ameera Shah, the chairperson of Hitech Diagnostic Centre, told journalists that their franchise, which already has 70 centers in Tamil Nadu, is planning to expand by starting 40 more centers in the state by FY23.
The diagnostic center is one of the top diagnostic players in South India, with a strong presence in Chennai and other parts of Tamil Nadu. There are 15 centers in other Southern states of Karnataka, Kerala, and Andhra Pradesh.
Acquisition & expansion of Hitech Diagnostic Centre
Diagnostic Major Metropolis Healthcare acquired Hitech Diagnostic Center and its subsidiary, Centralab Healthcare Services, for Rs 6.36 crore in October 2021. This acquisition helped Metropolis, which is already a market leader down south, to increase its market share and fortify its leadership position in the south Indian market.
It also helped increase its business-to-consumer (B2C) share of the business. Currently, 75% of the Hitesh Diagnostic business is generated through the B2C segment, with the rest coming from the Business-to-Business (B2B). It is spilled evenly with Metropolis Healthcare.
Mr. Shah, the promoter and MD of Metropolis Healthcare, stated that the addition of 40 centers would help the diagnostic chain increase its B2C share of the business. It has a test menu of more than 1,300 tests starting with routine screening tests to highly impenetrable molecular and genetic assays. 59% of the test menu was focused on blood biochemistry and endocrinology.
The expansion process of Metropolis and Hitech
As a part of its expansion plans, Metropolis Healthcare declared that in the next three years, it would expand to 90 labs and 1,800 patient collection centers across the country. Under this project, the diagnostic chain intends to bring in 20 labs and around 200-300 patient collection centers down south.
Shah informed us that their focus is on tier-2 and tier-3 towns where there are no labs. He added that the expansion would be mainly organic with funding through internal accruals. Expansion plans also include opening up more centers in western India.
The equipment is bought from the best brands available globally. Hitech is making investments in the latest gadgets like next-generation sequencing equipment, newborn screening, IHC, personal genome machine, tissue processors, etc.
Statistics of Hitech’s Growth
The revenue of Hitech Diagnostic Center amounted to approximately Rs 124 crore during financial year 21, rising 49% year on year. As per the press release, the tempo of the business continued in FY22, with strong growth throughout all parameters.
The net profit of Metropolis Healthcare climbed to Rs 74.92 crore in the first quarter of FY22 from Rs 2.88 crore in the first quarter of FY21. Even the net sales grew 128.30% year on year to Rs 326.76 during the quarter.
Metropolis Shares shed 1.12% to end at Rs 2.826.50 on October 21. Currently, Metropolis Healthcare is a leading diagnostics company in India with extensive popularity across 19 states in India.
Hitech, with a network of 1000 plus hospitals and clinics together with 5000 plus consultants and physicians, is a trusted name among doctors and patients. It is also the first lab in India that has achieved six sigma for biochemistry tests based on the UNITY program.
Shah said that the most distinguishing feature of Hitech Diagnostic is its quick turnaround time and affordability. They are now adding a few additional benefits to consumers like increasing accessibility through center additions, expanding the outreach of Hitech’s well-known preventive healthcare package ‘Nalam,’ adding more advanced tests, and automating many of the existing back-end as well as consumer-facing processes.
