Higher costs, fewer patients hit Talkmed Group in Q3

Foreign patients are deterred by the strong SGD.

Talkmed Group was hurt by the appreciation of the Singapore Dollar against regional currencies in Q3. This resulted in fewer foreign patients from neighboring ASEAN countries, according to CIMB.

Talkmed reported Q3 revenue of S$15.7m, up 0.6% year-on-year but down 2.4% quarter-on-quarter. The group's operating costs went up 53.4% yoy and 34.2% qoq as a result of higher employee benefits and operating lease expenses. Recruitment of four new staff in 2015 and the timing of staff bonuses drove employee costs up. It also signed two new operating leases in March and June this year.

"Given that more than 50% revenue contributed by foreign patients (mainly from Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam), its business was hurt by the appreciation of the Singapore dollar against regional currencies. Should the currency trend persist, over the near term, we expect minimal growth in patient visits," CIMB said.