It’s diversify or die for Raffles Med as Indo patients decline

Weakening currencies against the SGD are to blame.

As Raffles Medical Group pushes forward with its extensive expansion efforts, encountering a few roadblocks along the way is inevitable. It’s currently facing dwindling foreign patient numbers from Indonesia and Russia, as the macro environment weakens in their home countries.

According to analysts from OCBC, these Indo patients are beginning to look for cheaper alternatives for their healthcare needs, turning to markets such as Malaysia.

To counter this, OCBC says the group’s diversity initiatives to tap on more countries including Vietnam becomes all the more important.

“Recall that the group had recently concluded the acquisition of International SOS (MC Holdings) Pte Ltd for 10 clinics in China, Vietnam and Cambodia through a JV.

We understand that this business is profitable and these clinics will eventually be branded under Raffles Medical Group, as well as support the group’s network in Singapore, Hong Kong and China,” OCBC said.