UK's Spire Healthcare flags profit at low end as NHS slows commissioning

Dec 3 (Reuters) - British private hospital group Spire Healthcare on Wednesday warned annual profit would come in at the bottom end of guidance, citing a slowdown in UK's National Health Service commissioning activity to the independent sector due to budget restrictions.

Shares fell nearly 15% to 190.2 pence by 0953 GMT.

Spire Healthcare supports Britain's NHS by taking patients off waiting lists at the same tariff prices as local NHS trusts, and by delivering NHS services, according to the company.

While self‑pay demand continues to grow, it has not been sufficient to offset the recent slowdown in NHS commissioning, the company said, underlining the mounting crisis across the state‑run, publicly funded system.

The outlook comes as the company is reviewing a range of strategic options, including a potential sale of the business, as part of efforts to address concerns that the business is undervalued.

The company expects adjusted EBITDA for the year 2026 to be broadly in line or slightly ahead of 2025 compared with market estimate of 311.4 million pounds, according to a Jefferies note.

The company had expected to record adjusted core profit between 270 million pounds and 285 million pounds ($357.64-$377.51 million) for 2025.

"This is a disappointing statement, particularly the downgrade for FY26, which given the company is expected to deliver a further 30 million pounds of costs savings in FY26, implies the core business will be going backwards," Panmure Liberum Analyst Seb Jantet said in a note.

($1 = 0.7549 pounds)

(Reporting by Yamini Kalia and Ankita Bora in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich and Tasim Zahid)