** Jefferies acknowledges the increasingly supportive environment for aged care in Australia, with positive regulatory, demographic and supply dynamics

** Notes Australia's population is ageing in line with the rest of the world, whereby the population's median age is growing

** Adds aged care regulatory reform is increasingly supportive of the residential aged care sector with a better aligned funding mechanism, coinciding with baby boomers entering the undersupplied market.

** Brokerage hikes PT on aged care operator Regis Healthcare REG.AX to A$8.8 from A$7.6, retains "buy" call

** Jefferies, however, decreases EBITDA forecast for Regis by 4% for fiscal 2026 due to the delayed implementation of the new Aged Care Act, the law that governs government-funded aged care in Australia

** Brokerage says EBITDA forecast decline due to delayed funding from the new act and increased administrative expenses

** Regis up 26.8% YTD, as of last close

(Reporting by Nikita Maria Jino in Bengaluru)

((Nikita.Jino@thomsonreuters.com;))