South African private hospital giant sees shares plunge by over 12%

Life Healthcare’s share price plunged by over 12% after it released a trading statement for the first half of its 2026 financial year.

This statement explained how one of the group’s funders was placed under curatorship in the six-month period, reducing Life Healthcare’s revenue by R130 million.

Life Healthcare is a private hospital group based in South Africa, with a presence in 13 international markets and over 60 private healthcare facilities.

On Thursday, 7 May 2026, Life Healthcare released a trading update for the six months through March 2026.

The group said it experienced a challenging operating environment over the six-month period, primarily impacted by a funder being placed under curatorship.

This will see Life Healthcare’s revenue increase by between 2.2% and 2.6% compared to the prior period, impacted by a reduction of around R130 million of revenue from the funder placed under curatorship.

The group also reported that its paid patient days (PPDs) declined by around 0.4%, primarily driven by the acute hospital operations, where PPDs declined by c. 0.9%.

This was partially offset by the growth of around 3.4% in complementary businesses. 

On a like-for-like basis, excluding the funder placed under curatorship, PPD’s would have increased by around 0.9%.

Life Healthcare’s normalised EBITDA is expected to increase by between 4.9% and 5.3%, through a combination of operational efficiency and the impact of margin improvement projects.

The group highlighted several factors that are set to negatively impact its half-year results, including:

• The funder placed under curatorship
• Impairments of non-acute businesses to the value of R38 million
• The prior period included a R2.9 billion fair value adjustment, which impacted both earnings per share and headline earnings per share

Following the release of this trading statement, Life Healthcare’s share price plummeted by as much as 12.3%, reversing much of the gains it had made in the year to date.

Prior to this plunge, Life Healthcare’s share price was up by over 11% in the year to date.

Life Healthcare expects to release its results for the six months to 31 March 2026 on or about 28 May 2026.

The table below shows Life Healthcare’s expected earnings for the first half of its 2026 financial year.