Can Manipal Health IPO provide long-term growth for high-risk investors?

ET Intelligence Group: Manipal Health Enterprises, the healthcare services provider, plans to raise ₹8,000 crore through a fresh issue for debt repayment, acquisition of stake in subsidiaries and general corporate purposes. It will also raise ₹1,275 crore through an offer for sale.

After the IPO, the promoter group’s stake will come down from 81.4% to 72.1%. About 46% of the revenue comes from Karnataka, indicating geographical concentration. Its occupancy rate fell to 64.5% in FY26 from 67.1% a year ago.

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The company’s revenue growth was strong over the past two years, but it faced margin pressure. The issue also appears to be aggressively priced. Given these factors, investors can wait to see the clarification post listing.

Business
Incorporated in 2010, Manipal Health Enterprises, part of the Manipal Group, offers a wide range of healthcare services including tertiary and quaternary care, organ transplantation, oncology, cardiology, neurology, orthopedics and preventive healthcare.

As of March 31, 2026, the company operated 49 hospitals with 13,037 licensed beds and 21 clinics. The company has an occupancy of 64.5% compared to 67-76% for its peers. Its average length of stay is also 2.8 days shorter than peers which range between 3.2 and 4.2 days.

Over 64% of its revenue is derived from Cardiac Sciences, Oncology, Neurosciences, Gastro Sciences, Orthopedics and Renal Sciences (CONGO-R) specialties.

According to a Crisil report, Manipal Health Enterprise is India’s largest multispecialty hospital network by bed capacity and the second largest hospital chain by number of hospitals as of March 31, 2026 after Apollo Hospitals.

Financial
Income from operations grew 29.4% yoy to ₹10,335.8 crore and net profit rose 31.1% to ₹916.5 crore between FY24 and FY26. Operating profit before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) increased by 24.8% to ₹ 2,644.1 crore during the period. On a year-on-year basis, revenue grew by 25.4%, Ebitda grew by 22.1% while net profit fell by 15.3% in FY26. Ebitda margin declined to 25.6% in FY26 from 27.5% in FY24. Cash flow from operations increased by 32.4% to ₹ 2,078.4 crore in FY26 compared to FY25. Average revenue per occupied bed increased by 5.7% yoy to ₹68,937.61 in FY24-26.

evaluation
Taking into account post-IPO equity and net profit for FY26, the company commands a price-earnings (P/E) multiple of 85, much higher than its peers, which range between 62-68 for Apollo Hospitals Enterprise, Max Healthcare Institute and Fortis Healthcare.