Raffles Medical Group - Phillip Securities 2019-04-30: New Chongqing Hospital Costs Start To Bite

RAFFLES MEDICAL GROUP LTD (SGX:BSL)

Raffles Medical Group - New Chongqing Hospital Costs Start To Bite

RAFFLES MEDICAL GROUP LTD (SGX:BSL)'s 1Q19 Revenue and PATMI were in line with our estimates, making up 24.8% and 24.3% of our full-year estimates.
PATMI plunged 13.7% y-o-y due to gestation costs for RafflesHospital Chongqing.
RafflesHospital Chongqing’s EBITDA loss of $1.8mn was within expectations.
Staff costs were well contained at 51.5% of revenue (1Q18: 52.7%) despite their expansion in China
Maintain Neutral with an unchanged Target Price of S$1.09.

Revenue growth of 8.9% y-o-y for Healthcare services was boosted by the higher patient load from the Primary Healthcare Network (PCN) scheme and new contracts. Local patients drove volume while foreign patient load growth remained flat.

Hospital services revenue grew 3.2% y-o-y due to higher utilisation of inpatient capacities. Hospital services revenue turned around after contracting marginally by 0.8% y-o-y in FY18 due to refurbishments of current inpatient facilities at the older Raffles Hospital in Singapore.

Excluding RafflesHospital Chongqing’s EBITDA loss of $1.8mn, EBITDA margin would have risen 0.4pp to 19.8 instead of decreasing 1pp to 18.4%. However, gestation costs were well within the guidance of EBITDA loss of S$8- 10mn in the first year.

However, costs remained well contained, making up 51.5% of revenue as compared to 52.7% in 1Q18. We expect it to be above 50% of the Group’s revenue in the coming quarters until patient volume picks up.

Management maintained EBITDA loss guidance for both hospitals of S$8-10mn in the first year and S$4-5mn in the second year before breaking even in the third year of operation.
RafflesHospital Chongqing has been open since January 2019. It is a 700-bed hospital located in the New North District of the Liangjiang New Area.
RafflesHospital Shanghai is expected to open in 4Q19. It will be a 400-bed tertiary hospital located between Shanghai Pudong International Airport and Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport in the heart of Pudong New Bund, a free trade zone.

The demand for international standard healthcare by the Chinese middle class will bring Raffles Medical into a new and exciting phase of growth. The track record, reputation and preparation by the company makes this a compelling opportunity.

Stronger demand from the MOH partnership;
Better than expected performance in China hospitals;
higher investment-holding revenue growth with the remaining 80% of vacant spaces leased out.

Tin Min Ying Phillip Securities Research | https://www.stocksbnb.com/ 2019-04-30

SGX Stock Analyst Report ACCUMULATE MAINTAIN ACCUMULATE 1.09 SAME 1.09