Raffles Medical Q1 profit drops 45.4% as China division 'severely impacted' by Covid-19

RAFFLES Medical Group's profit after tax almost halved in the first quarter this year as its China healthcare division was "severely impacted" by the Covid-19 pandemic, the integrated healthcare provider announced in a bourse filing on Monday.

For the three months ended March 31, the group's profit after tax fell 45.4 per cent to S$7.5 million, from S$13.7 million a year ago.

Excluding the results of its China healthcare division, the group's profit after tax would have been S$15.1 million, down 5.1 per cent from S$15.9 million in Q1 2019.

Revenue for the quarter came in at S$128 million, down slightly from S$128.3 million in the previous year.

Earnings before interest, depreciation, taxes and amortisation shed 12.7 per cent to S$20.6 million, from S$23.6 million in the year-ago period.

That said, Raffles Medical noted that its balance sheet "remains resilient" with a low net gearing of about 3 per cent as at March 31, as well as unused bank facilities of more than S$200 million available to the group.

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Amid the novel coronavirus outbreak, some of the group's clinics in China have been instructed by the local authorities to close.

"Raffles Hospital Chongqing has to operate with a significantly smaller patient load as the movement of people was curtailed. In Singapore, foreign patients are prohibited from coming to seek care at any hospital," Raffles Medical noted.

To overcome these limitations, the group's physicians and nurses in China and Singapore continue to serve its patients through telemedicine applications and delivery of medications where appropriate.

In Singapore, the group's staff is performing temperature screening duties at the airports.

As the virus spreads among foreign workers who live in dormitories, Raffles Medical's staff have also been redeployed from clinics to treat this group of workers, swab them for Covid-19, and care for those at community isolation facilities.

"Our specialists colleagues and nurses at Raffles Hospital continue to serve private patients, but also extended the emergency care collaboration with the Ministry of Health to take in more public subsidised patients," Raffles Medical said.

Separately, all physicians and staff are reminded to reduce waste in the system and use resources thoughtfully so as to "cut costs to save jobs", the group added.

Raffles Medical operates hospitals and clinics in Singapore, eight cities in China and five other Asian cities.

The counter closed at 87 Singapore cents on Friday, down 0.5 cent or 0.6 per cent.