New subscribers double MedLife business in Q1

The growth was due to securing new subscribers, developing services and opening a new clinic.

Last year, the company opened Life Memorial Hospital, the largest private hospital in Bucharest, which had a high occupancy rate, according to MedLife President Mihail Marcu.

In the first three months of 2008, MedLife invested some €1.5 mln to open the MedLife Unirea Hyperclinic in downtown Bucharest, acquire medical equipment, and build a MedLab Laboratory in the city of Cluj-Napoca.

The company plans to open a hyperclinic in the western city of Timisoara and a medical center in Cluj-Napoca by mid-2008. Three further clinics, in the cities of Iasi, Brasov and Constanta, are to be finalized in 2009, with total investments in these units to amount to €15 mln.

Company representatives said the number of subscribers rose 10 percent in Q1, up to 150,000 clients from 1,800 companies. On the non-subscription client segment, the number rose 40 percent.

Furthermore, the company’s life insurance division, AsiLife, posted a 70 percent rise in the number of policies subscribed. Some 25,000 insurances are to be concluded this year, according to company representatives.

MedLife’s main competitors are Unirea Medical Center (CMU), Medicover, Medsana and Sanador.

The private medical services market is estimated to be worth €300 million in 2008, some 30% higher year-on-year.