RAFFLES MEDICAL GROUP LTD (SGX:BSL)
Raffles Medical Group - Looking Forward To China’s Growth; Keep BUY
- While we remain cognisant of rising costs and believe the current profit margin may not be sustainable, we expect Raffles Medical’s China business to drive long-term earnings growth.
- In the near term, while COVID-19 related revenue could decline, a normalised healthcare business, higher foreign patient load in Singapore and y-o-y higher revenue from China should enable Raffles Medical to book sequential revenue growth.
With near term growth resumption, Raffles Medical is looking to expand its presence in China.
- In its latest results briefing, Raffles Medical (SGX:BSL)'s management indicated that the number of patient visits at its China operations has been steadily rising, with numbers for its hospital in Chongqing doubling in the past year. A similar view was shared by Dr Vincent Chia, managing director of Raffles China Healthcare, a subsidiary of Raffles Medical in the following news article by Forbes.
- Referring to its China operations, Dr Vincent Chia said: “Things are starting to look slightly more relaxed, but in a very coordinated fashion”. Dr Chia also mentioned that the company plans to increase the number of cities it serves to 20 in the next 3-5 years. In China, it currently provides healthcare service in 8 cities, including Hong Kong.
- Raffles Medical has already received approval to open a centre for assisted reproductive therapy and in vitro fertilisation in Hainan, China. In this facility, it intends to invest S$10m, and it expects to begin providing services in 1Q23.
China operations on track with guided initial losses.
- We maintain that its Shanghai hospital, whose operations began in late 4Q21 but were interrupted in 1H22 due to lockdowns related to COVID-19, should see a gradual resumption in patient inflows during 2H22F.
- For the hospitals in Chongqing and Shanghai, Raffles Medical has maintained its 2022 EBITDA loss guidance of S$3-4m and ~S$10m.
Looking to shore up funding to assist acquisitions.
- In addition to a S$135m net cash position, Raffles Medical has announced the establishment of a S$1bn multi-currency medium-term notes programme, which will enable it to raise additional funding. We believe this could enable the company to explore acquisition opportunities in markets in which it operates.
- As per news report by Bloomberg, ByteDance has recently acquired one of China’s largest private hospital chains for about US$1.5bn. We believe growth opportunities could exist in China, which is working towards its “Healthy China 2030" blueprint that was announced in 2016.
ESG premium.
- Our target price for Raffles Medical, which includes a 2.2% ESG premium, implies 33x with its regional peer average.
- See
- Keep BUY recommendation on Raffles Medical with S$1.65 target price, 18% upside and ~2% yield.
Shekhar Jaiswal
RHB Securities Research
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https://www.rhbgroup.com/
2022-08-31
SGX Stock
Analyst Report
1.650
SAME
1.650
