RIYADH: Hospital operator Dr. Sulaiman Al Habib Group recorded a 22 percent increase in profit for the first quarter, driven by higher revenue. Following the announcement, its board recommended distributing dividends of SR0.83 ($0.22) per share during the first quarter of 2022, according to a bourse statement. The operator’s revenue increased 17.4 percent, reaching SR 1.99 billion, with an increase of SR296 million as compared to SR1.69 billion in the corresponding quarter of the previous year, owing to growth in the hospital segment and higher patient occupancy. The company earned SR390.5 million in profit, compared to SR319 million in the previous year. Established in 1995, HMG is a private health service provider in Saudi Arabia, with seven hospitals in the Kingdom, the UAE, Bahrain, as well as pharmacies and other medical departments. Despite the result, its share price fell 1.50 percent to SR196.20 in afternoon trading, as of 01:23 p.m. Saudi time.