The Medibank Private Ltd (ASX: MPL) share price has been having a great year so far on the ASX.
Perhaps more impressive, the health insurance and solutions company's gains have come despite it only releasing news a handful of times.
Right now, the Medibank shares are trading for $3.54 apiece, 17.28% higher than they were at the start of 2021.
Let's take a closer look at what the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) company has been up to in 2021.
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What's driven the Medibank share price in 2021?
It's been a good year for Medibank shares, despite the company keeping relatively quiet. Here's what we've heard from Medibank in 2021.
Myhealth acquisition
In early February, Medibank announced it had acquired a non-controlling 33.4% interest in Myhealth Medical Group.
Myhealth operates 86 primary care clinics scattered across Victoria, New South Wales, and Queensland.
According to Medibank, the investment strengthened its focus on preventive health and doctor-led partnerships.
The Medibank share price didn't react to the news.
Half yearly results
A matter of weeks later, Medibank released its results for the first half of financial year 2021.
For the 6 months ended 31 December 2020, Medibank recorded net profits after tax of $226.4 million, a 27.3% increase on those of the prior corresponding period.
It also reported that its income from premiums rose 0.3% to $3.3 billion, while its net claims expenses dropped $24.1 million – or 0.8%.
Medibank also announced a 5.8 cent fully franked dividend.
Finally, the company announced its CEO, Craig Drummond, was to retire. Medibank's new CEO David Koczkar took over the role on 17 May.
The Medibank share price fell 3.4% on the back of the results.
Returning money to customers
Lastly, in April Medibank announced that it plans to return around $105 million it's saved during COVID-19 to its customers.
According to Medibank, the savings came from its customers deferring their claims due to the global pandemic.
The Medibank share price fell 0.6% the day the company announced the give-back.
Medibank share price snapshot
After starting 2021 at $3.04, the Medibank share price is now $3.54.
It has also gained 24% since this time last year.
