AC Health eyes continued growth

AC Health, the health care arm of conglomerate Ayala Corp. (AC), is aiming to be a $2-billion health care enterprise by 2035.

"What started as a bold ambition to build a connected health care system has now become a nationwide network of pharmacies, clinics, hospitals, and partners working together to make health care more accessible, more affordable, and more inclusive," AC Health President and CEO Paolo Borromeo said.

AC Health's portfolio currently includes 236 corporate and multispecialty clinics, including six hospitals under Healthway Medical Network; 880 pharmacies between Generika Drugstore and St. Joseph Drug; and 1,178 certificates of product registration under I.E Medica and MedEthix.

Over the next three years, AC Health aims to deepen and expand its presence in key cities through organic and inorganic expansion of its hospital and clinic network, with a target of 1,150 retail pharmacies, 400 clinics and 10 hospitals.

Excluding mergers and acquisitions, AC Health will be allocating P6 billion to P8 billion in capital expenditures to fund its initiatives, which can be funded internally, Borromeo said.

AC Health, he continued, is currently in acquisition talks with seven to 10 hospitals with a bed capacity between 100 and 200 located across major cities in the country.

"Our priority is to grow the drugstores [segment] organically, drugstores and clinics. And in our next briefing, we'll announce how the results have been great," he added.

The AC Health CEO said the company's value was currently at around 4 percent to 5 percent of AC's net asset value.

"We want to be a key contributor to Ayala's legacy, not just in terms of the bottom line, but in the real difference we make in people's lives. And we'll get there, step by step, patient by patient, community by community," Borromeo said.

AC shares on Friday were up P8.00, or 1.42 percent, closing at P570 each.