Auna's Q1 2025 Earnings Call: Unpacking Contradictions in Mexico's Performance, Financial Guidance, and Growth Strategy

Mexico's performance and transition challenges, financial guidance and expectations for Mexico, Oncosalot deployment and market acceptance in Mexico, capital expenditure guidance, and expected timeline for improvement are the key contradictions discussed in Auna's latest 2025Q1 earnings call.



Mexico's Operational Challenges:
- Auna reported disappointing results with revenue and EBITDA increasing only 4% and 1%, respectively, on an FX-neutral basis in Q1 2025.
- The slowdown was due to operational setbacks in Mexico, where the company encountered challenges integrating physicians into the AunaWay model, which led to a decline in productivity and volumes.

Peru's Strong Performance:
- Peru's operations outperformed, with a 19% increase in adjusted EBITDA on a 10% increase in revenue.
- This was driven by increased capacity utilization and efficiency gains from the vertically integrated health care model implemented last year.

Colombia's Risk Mitigation and Payment Improvement:
- Colombia saw a 5% revenue increase in local currency, partially due to diversifying the payer mix and implementing risk-sharing models.
- The company noted improved payment flows and a better cash flow outlook, despite facing additional impairments due to continued payment risk from intervened payers.

Fiscal Discipline and Debt Management:
- Auna refinanced $62.1 million of short-term debt at a competitive yield of 8%, while maintaining a focus on reducing net debt leverage to a midterm target of 3x.
- The company maintained a solid cash position and generated PEN 165 million of pretax operating cash flow in Q1.