Shares of Apollo Hospitals tanked 3 percent on Wednesday, ahead of the company's quarterly earnings announcements due later today, as the revenue is likely to take a hit on a quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) basis primarily due to the impact of the Omicron wave.

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The stock closed 2.71 percent lower at Rs 3,534 per share on the BSE.

A CNBC-TV18 poll expects the company's revenue to rise by 23 percent year-on-year to Rs 3,523 crore from Rs 2,867.9 crore but fall 3 percent QoQ from Rs 3,638.9 crore due to Omicron impact affecting out-patient department services and lower COVID-19 contribution.

The profit is likely to increase 15 percent to Rs 195.8 crore from Rs 169.9 crore reported in the same period last year while the margin is expected to remain flat at 14.6 percent compared to last year's 14.4 percent.

Among the key things to watch out for would be any updates on the stake sale in Apollo 24/7 and sales pickup in partnership with Amazon.

Apollo Hospitals was included in the Nifty 50 index replacing Indian Oil Corporation with effect from March 31 and since then, the stock has gained 15 percent.

Apollo Hospitals is the largest health care network in India with more than 12,000 beds across over 70 hospitals, 4,100 pharmacies and over 120 primary care clinics, among others.

IIFL Securities expects Apollo to post 68 percent bed occupancy rate for the March 2022 quarter.

"With volumes of inpatient and outpatient segments growing 17% and 20%, respectively over the year-ago quarter; average revenue per occupied bed (ARPOB) could improve 10%. Pharma and hospital business could post robust revenue growth, taking overall growth in topline to 28%," it said.

Among important management insights to watch out for would be growth outlook across all business segments, breakeven of 24x7 and margin drivers in the future, it added.

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First Published:May 25, 2022 4:37 PM IST