Bupa's pre-tax profits soar
Health insurance giant Bupa said today that pre-tax profits had soared by almost 20% last year as more NHS patients paid for their own hospital treatment.
Privately-owned Bupa said the number of NHS patients treated rose and represented 6% of people treated in its hospitals during 2002 as independent health companies took on an increasing number of cases from over-stretched Government health services.
The company also opened its first privately-run diagnostic and treatment centre, staffed by both Bupa and NHS employees, which is dedicated to NHS patients.
Chief executive Val Gooding said: “Our experience with mixed health economies outside the UK convinces us that to attract even more money into health and take more strain off the NHS, the government should be encouraging those individuals and organisations that can, to take responsibility for some of their health needs, rather than penalising them through taxation as at present.”
Bupa is preparing to sell more of its British products to Australia and the Far East. It already owns a Sydney hospital and has a presence in Hong Kong, Thailand and Singapore.
For the year to December 31, Bupa said pre-tax profits rose to £107.9m (€159m) on income up 17.1% to £2.8bn (€4.1bn).
The company’s provident status means all profits are reinvested in the business.
Ms Gooding said the results reflected increased sales and continued investment in the group.
She said: “We have benefited from both organic growth and investment. All our main businesses improved their result year-on-year despite increasingly difficult trading conditions in some of our markets, in the second half.”
Set up in 1947, Bupa has more than eight million customers in 190 countries and 40,000 employees.
Health insurance sales rose 5% in the period and insurance revenues across the world were up 20%.
