Raffles Medical Group's Shanghai hospital to open early 2019

It’s the company’s first outside Singapore.

Maybank Kim Eng recently hosted Raffles Medical at its Invest ASEAN Singapore Conference on 21 March 2017.

The company discussed its China expansion plans and future prospects, local operation updates, and restructuring of newly-acquired MCH.

In the near term, there are several headwinds, including the restructuring costs of MCH, lacklustre medical tourism, and start-up costs of new projects.

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However, long-term prospects remain sound given its initiative to expand overseas and strong execution track record.

Management highlighted the exciting potential for its China operations, given the huge population, quality concerns, and high spending power. A good example is the high tuition fees for private schools in China, which could cost CNY150k per term.

The Shanghai hospital is progressing according to plan and it’s expected to open in early 2019. Currently, piling works are being carried out and management is evaluating which contractors to use for the hospital building.

The Raffles Hospital extension is on track to open in late 2017. The current capacity utilisation remains efficient due to its tie-up with the government under emergency collaboration care. The new Holland Village medical centre has broken even in just seven months and 95% of the space has been committed.

For Shaw Centre, it is still loss-making, but management aims to achieve break-even in 2017. Medical tourism from the traditional markets has slowed down, but this is slightly offset by increased patients from new markets, including Indochina and China.