RM15 million investment - funded by internal resources - has been set aside for the outlets in the first year

 

ALTHOUGH there are over 1,000 retail pharmacy brands in Malaysia, comprising multi-store chains and standalone companies, the newest kid on the block - R Pharmacy - believes there is a gap it can fill in the market.

 

R Pharmacy is a new joint venture in which Singapore Exchange-listed Enviro-Hub Holdings has an indirect 40 per cent stake.

 

The first branch of R Pharmacy opened on Saturday (Apr 16) in Klang Valley, with 5 more already under development.

 

The plan is to open a total of 25 outlets by the end of 2022.

 

Adrian Toh, chief executive officer and executive director of R Pharmacy, is banking on his company' s service standards and ability to build relationships in order to stand out from the competition.

 

" Unlike the old days where pharmacies were a place for one to get consultations and knowledge on health, today the majority of us just go in, grab what we need, and leave," he said in an interview with The Business Times.

 

" That' s the reason we are positioning R Pharmacy as a neighbourhood pharmacy that offers consultation service to the customers.

 

" We even have a consultation room for those who want to talk to our pharmacists privately."

 

He says there are about 1,450 retail pharmacy brands including big chains such as Watsons and Guardian, as well as independent pharmacies in second- or third-tier cities across Malaysia.

 

Among them, 1,400 brands have less than 5 stores nationwide, and only 9 brands have more than 31 stores.

 

Toh, who is also the chief investment officer of Enviro-Hub, revealed that the estimated investment for the 25 R Pharmacy outlets in the first year is around RM15 million (S$4.81 million) - all funded using internal resources.

 

Despite such intense competition, he still sees opportunities in Malaysia and is confident that R Pharmacy, which targets the neighbourhood community, will be able to stand out from others through its omnichannel sales and service-oriented strategy.

 

Other than physical presence, R Pharmacy also plans to extend its offerings through its mobile app, which will offer e-prescriptions and a delivery service.

 

Toh said there are several reasons why Malaysia was picked as the " ground zero" of its pharmacy business.

 

These reasons include Malaysia' s population of over 32 million, the increasing number of people aged 65 and above, as well as the pharmacy business' synergy with Pastel Glove.

 

Last August, Enviro-Hub acquired Pastel Glove, a Malaysia-based glovemaker with an annual production capacity of 1 billion pieces.

 

The venture into Malaysia' s retail pharmacy business is in line with Enviro-Hub' s plan to streamline its business segment to focus mainly on recycling and healthcare, said Toh.

 

" The glovemaking arm could produce R Pharmacy' s own brand consumer gloves and sell it through the pharmacy at a competitive price, but still maintain the profit margin," he added.

 

In a separate media statement, Enviro-Hub chairman Raymond Ng said the opening of R Pharmacy reaffirms the group' s big push into the health supplies industry.

 

" By reinventing the way we think about pharmacies, I believe we can understand our customers better and connect them to more superior products and services, as well as set a new benchmark for quality retail healthcare," he said.

MAINBOARD-LISTED Enviro-Hub Holdings said on Tuesday (Mar 8) that it has appointed former Member of Parliament (MP) Teo Ho Pin as an independent non-executive director of the company.

 

He will also be a member of the audit, nominating and remuneration committees of Enviro-Hub, whose business includes trading, recycling and refining of e-waste and metals, piling contracts, construction, and rental and servicing of machinery,

 

Teo, 62, was previously a People' s Action Party MP for various constituencies between 1996 to 2020. He was also chairman of Holland-Bukit Panjang Town Council and mayor of North West District of Singapore between 2001 and 2020.

 

Since 2017, he has been an adjunct professor at the Department of Built Environment at the National University of Singapore, and he is also a visiting professor at Singapore University of Technology and Design.

 

Apart from Enviro-Hub, Teo is also an independent director at other SGX-listed companies including Tiong Seng Holdings, Broadway Industrial Group, ISOTeam and King Wan Corporation.

 

On Feb 25, executive chairman of Enviro-Hub Holdings Enviro-Hub: L23 0% Raymond Ng acquired 922,300 shares of the company for a consideration of S$65,483 at 7.1 cents per share.

 

This took his total stake in the environmental management solutions group from 28.11 per cent to 28.17 per cent.

 

On Feb 24, Enviro-Hub Holdings reported a FY21 (ended Dec 31) earnings turnaround with attributable net profit of S$3.2 million, on the back of a 31 per cent rise in revenue and expansion in gross margin from 17.0 per cent in FY20 to 22.8 per cent in FY21.

 

Ng is responsible for the group' s overall management, business development, investment decisions as well as strategic direction and planning.

 

In the results release he noted the recent focus on growth opportunities such as the acquisition of Pastel Glove and further expansion in the healthcare segment, while the group was also making good progress in the e-waste segment.