Mr Loo Choon Yong is now worth US$1.1 billion (S$1.49 billion), according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

  A Singapore doctor has joined the ranks of billionaires after his company became involved in efforts to fight the Covid-19 pandemic, helping send its profit and stock surging.

 

Dr Loo Choon Yong, executive chairman of Singapore-listed Raffles Medical Group, is now worth US$1.1 billion (S$1.49 billion), according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, as the healthcare provider' s net income more than doubled in the first half of this year and its shares climbed 104 per cent from a low in March last year.

 

Raffles Medical has been operating 15 vaccination centres in the city-state, and helping with air border screening, pre-event testing and pre-departure swabbing of cruise passengers. It is the latest example of how businesses adapted during the coronavirus outbreak when other lines of work were hit.

 

" When the country is facing a challenge like this, we have to help out," Dr Loo, who owns about 52 per cent of Raffles Medical with his family, said in a video interview. " Although we' re private, we' re part of the healthcare system."

 

Singapore has been speeding up its Covid-19 vaccination drive, expecting to have 80 per cent of its population fully inoculated by September so that it can relax more virus curbs, including starting to allow quarantine-free travel.

 

Raffles Medical, which operates more than 60 clinics and practices and one hospital across the country, began working on the efforts in January.

 

" The fact that Raffles Medical is one of the largest healthcare providers in Singapore meant that they were able to assist in more ways than one," said CGS-CIMB Securities Singapore analyst Tay Wee Kuang. Their involvement " has benefited them" , he said.

 

Dr Loo, 72, co-founded Raffles Medical in 1976. He and his friend Alfred Loh initially bought two clinics and gradually built the company.

 

As well as its presence in Singapore, Raffles Medical has three hospitals in China, the latest one opening in Shanghai last week, and also operates in Japan, Vietnam and Cambodia.

 

" The principle was to look after patients properly," Dr Loo said. " The business will look after itself. That' s how we grew over the years."

 

Things did not look so bright when the virus started to spread last year. Raffles Medical' s regular business declined as people stayed away from clinics and hospitals, and medical providers were only allowed to provide essential services, according to Dr Loo.

 

" During the Covid-19 period, patients get worried and try to stay home," he said. " You don' t want to go for health check-ups and pick up Covid-19." So the company deployed doctors, nurses and other staff into areas such as Covid-19 testing and screening at airports.

 

Raffles Medical more than doubled its earnings to $39.4 million for the first half of this year, as revenue rose 42 per cent to $343.8 million.

 

The company' s shares have climbed 50 per cent so far this year, compared with a 12 per cent gain for the country' s benchmark stock index.

 

Mr Tay of CGS-CIMB Securities sounds a note of caution, saying contributions from Covid-19 efforts may have peaked.

 

" We do not know how the situation will evolve," he said. Future share price upside may " need to come from border reopening that can boost medical tourism, and even testing of passenger arrivals at our air border" , he said.

 

Dr Loo, meanwhile, said amassing a fortune of more than US$1 billion is not how he judges his success.

 

" I don' t measure our contribution or the meaning of my life by the market cap or share price," he said. " What' s seriously important is how Raffles Medical, as an organisation, looks after patients well."

 

Between July 26 and 27, Raffles Medical Group independent director Allen Lew Yoong Keong acquired 200,000 shares of the company for a consideration of S$265,000.

 

At an average price of S$1.33, this took his interest in the leading integrated private healthcare provider to 0.01 per cent.

 

Appointed as independent director on Oct 28, 2020, Mr Lew has also served as the chairman of the audit & risk committee since May 1.

 

A telco veteran, Mr Lew is a long-time stalwart of Singtel, having held a range of senior management roles since joining the company in 1980.

 

The group noted with the appointment that Mr Lew brings to the group his leadership strength in running multi-billion-dollar businesses across different geographies in Singapore and the Asia-Pacific region.

 

On July 26, Raffles Medical Group reported stronger revenue of S$343.8 million in H1FY21 (ended June 30), up 42.4 per cent from H1FY20.

 

Over the period, the group noted its active support of the government in the Covid-19 vaccination and Polymerase Chain Reaction swab tests initiatives, and against this backdrop, the healthcare and hospital services divisions saw revenue grow by 65.4 per cent and 35.4 per cent respectively.

 

Raffles Medical: BSL +8.26% on Monday announced a net profit of S$39.4 million for the six-month period ended June 30, 2021, more than double the S$17.2 million the previous year in part due to stronger revenue growth from supporting the government' s Covid-19 initiatives. 

 

" In view of the current conditions, and barring unforeseen circumstances, including the worsening of the Covid-19 situation where the group operates, the group expects to be more profitable for FY2021 than FY2020," the group said in its results filing.

 

The group' s earnings per share stood at 2.11 Singapore cents, more than doubled the 0.94 cent for the previous year while its net asset value per share came in at 48.77 cents in June, up from 48.22 cents in end December 2020.

 

Revenue for the period also grew 42.4 per cent to S$343.8 million, up from S$241.4 million from a year earlier mainly due to sales from Covid-19 related products and services

 

As such, revenue in the healthcare services and hospital services divisions grew by 65.4 per cent and 35.4 per cent respectively. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation rose to S$74.5 million, up 78 per cent from S$41.9 million from a year ago

 

The group' s revenue from its operations in Singapore for the six months ended June 30 was up 43.2 per cent to S$313.8 million compared with the same period the previous year. This is as the group continues to support the government' s Covid-19 initiatives and expanded its operations beyond air-border screening and pre-event testing to include vaccination centres, pre-departure swabbing of cruise passengers, as well as operating dedicated polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing centres.

 

It also continues to take in patients from the Emergency Care Collaboration programme with the Ministry of Health, to support public hospitals when that have to be temporarily closed to the public to cater to Covid-19 patients. 

 

However, the outlook for medical tourism is less rosy. With travel restrictions in place, foreign patients now account for less than 10 per cent of the group' s revenue, compared with around 30 per cent pre-Covid.

 

Executive chairman Loo Choon Yong said in a media briefing on Monday that while he expects medical tourism to rebound once the pandemic blows over, he reckoned that it will " not be as strong as before" . He is forecasting the group' s foreign patients to pick up to about 20 per cent of revenue once borders reopen. 

 

" Going forward, my own guess is that the surrounding countries (might) have gotten used to treatment at home because they cannot travel to Singapore," said Dr Loo at the media briefing. In addition, Singapore' s healthcare is more expensive than other destinations such as Thailand and Malaysia. 

 

Meanwhile, the group continues to strengthen its presence in China. Revenue from operations in China was up 58.2 per cent to S$23.5 million. Dr Loo said at the briefing that the " environment is getting better" in China given that they are able to respond quickly to contain the virus when there are any outbreaks. 

 

Against this backdrop, both Raffles Hospital Chongqing and Raffles Hospital Beijing in China have seen improved patient loads. The two hospitals, along with Raffles Medical clinics in China have also stepped up to participate in the local government' s Covid-19 vaccination efforts.

 

The group had also on Monday opened the newly completed Raffles Hospital Shanghai. The 770,000 square foot, 12-storey facility with a capacity of 400 beds, is located in Qiantan, Pudong, and will provide medical services ranging from 24/7 emergency medicine as well as inpatient and outpatient services.

 

" The opening of Raffles HospitalShanghai marks an important milestone for the group. It is a major step in our effort to provide international tertiary-level medical services to locals and expatriates living in Shanghai, including the surrounding provinces as well as international patients from neighbouring countries," said Dr Loo in a press statement. 

 

As Raffles Medical had earlier announced in February 2021, its directors have not declared any interim dividend as the group intends to consolidate its interim and final dividends into an annual core dividend of up to half its average sustainable profits after tax and minority interests with effect from FY2021.