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Aged-care medical services firm Third Age Health Services' first half profit has been hit by a number of challenges related to an ongoing labour market shortage.
For the six months ending in September, the firm's net profit was $324,000, compared to $672,000 the year prior while its revenue was $4.6 million compared to $2.8m.
In its financial report the company said aged-care was undergoing a challenging period over the short to medium term.
"The well-acknowledged health workforce crisis, which has been compounded by the slow border openings and immigration settings, combined with lower than needed funding outcomes for aged care providers, continues to impact the sector," it said.
"We are acutely aware that the nursing workforce shortage has impacted some aged-care clients, with several having to reduce bed numbers."
It said the staff shortages had made made it difficult to operate at full capacity as all aged-care providers must have a general practitioner or nurse practitioner available to residents.
"The workforce crisis also extends to clinicians, and the shortage of clinicians has impacted our ability to grow in some regions where we have a backlog of demand," it said.
"Additionally, although we believe the business retains its longer-term pricing power it is not completely immune to the effects of high inflation in the near term."
However, it said the longer-term outlook was positive, given the ageing population would continue to drive increased demand for quality primary care medical services.
"Our business is well-positioned to capture additional market share due in part to the very strong relationships with existing clients, who themselves have significant growth plans," it said, indicating it was developing new client relationships.
Separately, the government announced this morning it would spend $200m a year to give private sector employed nurses pay parity with public sector nurses.