Emerging healthcare juggernaut Healthia (ASX: HLA) has continued to expand its national footprint as Australia’s fastest growing allied health portfolio, this time acquiring six new clinics across Victoria and New South Wales.
The new additions include four hand therapy clinics and a physiotherapy clinic in Melbourne as well as one optometry clinic in Singleton, New South Wales. They take Healthia’s portfolio to 306 allied health businesses across Australia, New Zealand and the United States.
That number has grown from just 102 clinics when Healthia listed on the ASX in 2018 but the Company has continued to execute on their strategy, deploying at least $20m in capital towards acquisitions that Healthia can substantially improve with their vertical integration services.
“With Healthia having deployed $19.1 million during FY22 (excluding the Back In Motion acquisition) and a strong acquisition target pipeline, I am confident we will meet our target of deploying $20m capital during FY22 and again in FY23,” said Healthia CEO, Wesley Coote.
Since June 2021, Healthia has deployed $110.8 million towards acquisitions which included their major acquisition of Back In Motion’s 63 physiotherapy clinics which also facilitated Healthia’s expansion into New Zealand.
Operating three main divisions covering podiatry, physiotherapy and optometry, Healthia is regularly approached by independent clinic operators keen to join the Healthia network to gain access to its support, education programs and marketing services.
Total upfront consideration for the acquisitions is $1.83m comprising $1.4m cash and $0.43m in Clinic Class Shares whereby the vendors will retain equity in the clinics that entitles them to a portion of profits generated. An additional $0.21m may be payable subject to performance targets.
Combined, the acquired clinics will contribute $2.65 million in underlying revenue and $0.46 million underlying EBITDA on an annualised basis which represents an attractive purchase multiple of 3.97x EBITDA.
While some of Healthia’s operations have been impacted over the past 6 months by the lingering effects of COVID-19, the resumption of normal operations has the Company in a strong position going forward to recoup appointments cancelled during lockdowns.
Between their 292 clinics prior to this new round of acquisitions, 6,869 clinic trading days were impacted due to COVID related Government imposed restrictions and lockdowns in the first 6 months of this financial year. This meant there were restrictions on marketing podiatry and optometry services in December which is typically one of the biggest months for sales as Aussies seek to claim their private health insurance benefits which lapse at the end of each calendar year.
Unlikely to see those benefits lapse in consecutive years, Healthia is well placed to service those missed appointments in 2022 where they have recently entered into an agreement with BUPA to be an “BUPA Optical Partner” to service their membership base.
Further fueling their rapid expansion, Healthia has undertaken their largest graduate intake ever with 154 new clinicians commencing their career with Healthia, an intake more than double the 64 hired last year.
Assuming there are no further COVID impacts across their national network, Healthia expects to commence FY23 with more than $40 million in annualised EBITDA in their portfolio which is almost double the $21.4m reported in FY21.
Further strengthening their portfolio, Healthia was recently admitted to the All-Ordinaries index which represents the top 500 companies listed on the ASX.
Alfred Chan is a Business Reporter at The Sentiment specialising in ASX-listed small cap companies, a bloodstock enthusiast and former equities analyst.
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