Suspended NMC Health vice chair resigns amid legal review

NMC Health announced today that vice chair Khalifa Butti Omeir Bin Yousef has resigned with immediate effect amid a legal review.

Earlier this week, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) confirmed it had launched a probe into the embattled hospital operator after the company announced it was seeking clarification from major shareholders over the size of their stakes in NMC.

Read more: NMC Health shares tumble on double downgrade from Societe Generale

The private hospital operator NMC suspended Omeir Bin Yousef on Monday, asking him and joint non-executive chair Bavagathu Raghuram Shetty to “absent themselves from further board discussions.”

It follows a report by short-selling firm Muddy Waters Capital which alleged that NMC manipulated its balance sheet and had inflated the price of assets it purchased.

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Muddy Waters cast doubt over the £107.3m investment into the redevelopment of NMC Royal Women’s Hospital. Red flags included the cost being £7,700 per metre squared, exceeding Muddy Waters’ expectation of £3,500 to £4,000.

NMC has disputed these claims, previously calling them “unfounded, baseless and misleading”.

Shares were down 2.4 per cent before recovering to minus 1.5 per cent at 805.8p.

Read more: KKR denies approaching embattled NMC Health on possible offer

Yesterday shares fell as much as 11 per cent after NMC was hit with a double rating downgrade from Societe Generale.

Analysts at the French bank slashed the hospital operator’s price target by 85 per cent, saying that confidence in the company is “broken”.

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