Raffles Medical Group hit with double whammy in just two weeks

Commercial podium conversion will not push through.

According to OCBC Investment Research, Raffles Medical Group announced last Friday that its resubmission for the change of  use of its commercial podium at 30 Bideford Road to a medical centre had been unsuccessful. 

Here's more:

We believe that concerns over traffic congestion in the area were the main impeding factor again. This is the second setback faced by RMG in as many weeks, as it had only recently lost out on a land tender for the development of a private hospital in Hong Kong to its competitor IHH Healthcare Berhad [NON-RATED].

We believe that management would explore the following options: 1) sell the property, 2) retain the podium as a commercial space and continue renting it out to supplement its income streams, or 3) open some clinics in the podium and rent out the remaining space.

Given that the property is located at a prime location in the Orchard area, we do not foresee much difficulty should RMG decide to sell it.