“We are not living in a state of absolute war like in Clausewitz's time [19th century], but in a state of guerrilla warfare, of insurgency.” It was with this military metaphor that Lucas Adib , CEO of Hapvida, summarized the operator's new moment in the first quarter results teleconference, on the afternoon of Tuesday, the 12th.
While Adib was speaking with investors and analysts, Hapvida's shares rose more than 10%, reacting to a balance sheet that showed improvement in areas considered critical by the market, such as the drop in cash loss ratio, EBITDA above expectations, and the return to positive cash flow generation.
Adib was confirmed as president last week, after Jorge Pinheiro left the operational leadership to assume the chairmanship of the board of directors. Despite the positive scenario in his first days definitively at the helm of the company, the executive made it clear that it is not yet time to lower their guard.
“It’s no use having a large army with complex mobility in a battle on a rugged and challenging coastline,” said Adib. “To deal with local particularities, we need a strategy of greater geographical dispersion and to reduce decision-making bottlenecks through responsible decentralization to the front lines.”
The message behind the metaphor is that Hapvida wants to operate in a more regionalized way, making decisions on a case-by-case basis. In practice, this means reviewing the product, price, network, brand, and even the company's presence in certain regions — including the possibility of selling operations or closing units, even if temporarily.
The new management structure itself indicates this shift in priorities. In introducing Felipe Nobre as responsible for strategy, investor relations, transformation, and M&A, Adib said that, for now, the mergers and acquisitions front will be " sell-side only for a good while"—referring to the sale of assets.
Hapvida did not specify which assets or regions might be included in the sale list, but admitted that it may close units in cities where there has been a significant reduction in the number of lives covered.
Over the past 12 months, the company lost approximately 115,000 lives covered by health plans, with the number of beneficiaries shrinking from 8.8 million to 8.68 million. In the first quarter, the net loss was 44,500 lives.
São Paulo is simultaneously the biggest problem and the first testing ground for Hapvida's new strategy.
In the quarter, the operator lost 67,100 lives in the state, with 31,000 in the metropolitan region and 36,100 in the interior. But it was also in São Paulo city that the company began to review products, prices, and its relationship with brokers.
However, in the last two months, retail sales in the metropolitan region have recorded the best performance in net additions since the merger with NotreDame Intermédica in 2022, according to Adib. The idea now is to replicate the model in other regions, including the South, the interior of São Paulo state, Rio de Janeiro, and Minas Gerais.
The new CEO stated that the initial results of the change in approach in the region have encouraged the company, but cautioned that "it's still too early to celebrate."
Despite a decrease in the number of lives covered, the company managed to increase its net revenue by 5.2% year-on-year, to R$ 7.89 billion. The revenue growth, even with a smaller base in health plans, is mainly explained by contract adjustments. In the quarter, the average ticket price for health plans increased by 7.3% year-on-year, to R$ 305.
“The discussion is very specific, market by market, channel by channel,” said Lucas Garrido, CFO of Hapvida, when commenting on the pricing strategy. According to him, the decision takes into account “the competition, our market presence, and our competitors.”
The increase in revenue, coupled with a decrease in claims during the quarter, helped boost Hapvida's adjusted EBITDA to R$ 803.3 million, a 12.5% increase compared to the fourth quarter. However, year-on-year, adjusted EBITDA still fell by 20%. The adjusted EBITDA margin was 10.2%, compared to 9% in Q4 2025 and 13.4% in Q1 2025.
In the bottom line, the company recorded a net loss of R$ 154.3 million, reversing a profit of R$ 54.3 million in the first quarter of 2025.
In the first quarter, the cash loss ratio fell from 75.5% to 72.2%, an improvement attributed mainly to lower demand for medical procedures at the beginning of the year and the fact that the previous quarter had been pressured by claims for services performed months earlier.
According to Adib, Hapvida has been adopting a more selective approach, with a "site-by-site and contract-by-contract" analysis of the operation, prioritizing revenue and margin instead of net additions at any cost.
Despite the rise in shares on Tuesday, Hapvida's stock is still down 14.6% for the year. Since April, when the controlling shareholders increased their stake in the business in response to Squadra's attempt to place three directors on the company's board , the shares have risen approximately 25.75%.
