(Corrects margin of percentage increase to 3 percent not 4 percent)
JOHANNESBURG, May 24 (Reuters) - South African private hospital group Mediclinic reported a 3 percent rise in annual core profit on Thursday, boosted by a recovery in its Middle Eastern operations.
Mediclinic, which also owns Switzerland's largest private hospital group Hirslanden, said core earnings - or adjusted earnings before tax, interest, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) - totalled 522 million pounds ($698 million) in the year ended March compared with 509 million pounds a year earlier.
($1 = 0.7483 pounds) (Reporting by Tiisetso Motsoeneng; Editing by MarkPotter)