In a year that has been so heavily dominated by healthcare due to the COVID-19 outbreak, there are many more health company losers than winners, with many being severely disrupted.

So says Yarra Capital Management head of small caps Katie Hudson.

ASX heavyweights ResMed, CSL and Ramsay Health Care have suffered as the virus swept the world last year: ResMed lost out on new patient diagnoses for sleep apnoea (despite ventilator sales surging); CSL’s plasma donations slowed; and Ramsay’s hospitals were commandeered by governments as elective surgeries stopped for a period.

Australia has performed well in its overall response to coronavirus, seeking to stamp out regional outbreaks, and allowing for more normal life and economic activity.

Looking to this year, there are “two buckets of companies”, in Hudson’s view, as momentum comes back to the sector and the government targets vaccinating  4 million people by the end of March.

“There are the companies that have seen disruption abate, and now seeing activity normalise, and in some cases activity has come back above trend as the backlog catches up,” she said.

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