Econ Healthcare posts H2 S$1.3m net loss after losing S$3.4m from selling Crosstec stake

CATALIST-LISTED nursing operator Econ Healthcare (Asia) sank into the red in the fiscal second half from a year ago after chalking up a S$3.4 million investment loss from selling all of its stake in Crosstec Group Holdings in January.

Econ Healthcare had invested around S$4 million of its idle working capital to buy 11.8 million shares in Crosstec, a Hong Kong-listed interior design company, but Crosstec shares nosedived 84 per cent soon after.

Net loss for the 6 months ended Mar 31, 2022 stood at S$1.26 million, reversing from a net profit of S$2 million posted in the same period a year ago, the company said in a filing on Friday (May 27).

The results translate to loss per share of 0.49 Singapore cent, against earnings per share of 0.99 Singapore cent.

With the results, the board did not propose a final dividend in respect of the latest financial year, but the group highlighted in a statement that it had paid an interim dividend of 0.22 Singapore cent per ordinary share last December.

Revenue was up 1.3 per cent to S$19.3 million, bringing full-year revenue up 3.3 per cent to S$38.9 million. 

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The group attributed this to a rise in revenue of S$1.5 million from medicare centres and nursing home fees, owing to a net increase in bed occupancy, fee adjustment and improvement to its homecare business in Singapore, among other factors.

Overall, its monthly average bed occupancy for the 2022 financial year went down to 1,037 beds, compared to the 1,117 beds in the preceding year.

Econ Healthcare, however, said this meant that overall occupancy rate rose as total bed capacity had fallen from 1,376 to 1,231 in the latest financial year.

The group, meanwhile, noted that its financial position remains healthy with cash and cash equivalents of S$26.1 million as at Mar 31, up from S$16.1 million a year ago.

The counter closed up 2 per cent or S$0.005 at S$0.26 before the results were released on Friday.