SINGAPORE (Apr 27): Raffles Medical Group (RMG) has announced earnings of $7.5 million for 1Q2020 ended March, down 45.4% y-o-y from $13.7 million. The losses were mainly attributed to the Covid-19 pandemic, which severely impacted the Group’s China Healthcare Division that oversees Raffles Hospital Chongqing, Raffles China Clinics, and Raffles Medical Hong Kong.
Revenue for 1Q2020 dipped 0.3% to $128.0 million, from last year’s $128.3 million. It also reported a 12.7% drop in its EBITDA to $20.6 million for this quarter, compared to last year’s $23.6 million.
In an announcement made by the Group on Monday, Raffles Medical, which operates hospitals and clinics in Singapore, China, and five other Asian cities, said that some of their clinics in China were instructed to close. Most notably, Raffles Hospital Chongqing had to operate with a “significantly smaller patient load”. Its Singapore hospital also saw a reduction of patients, as “foreign patients are prohibited from coming to seek care at any hospital”.
The pared down results were released along with the Group’s update on the Covid-19 outbreak, and its mitigation responses. Moving forward, Raffles Medical will be announcing its financial results every six months instead of quarterly announcements; the next announcement will be made on June 30.
The Group said its balance sheet remains resilient with a gearing of about 3% as of March 31, and unutilised bank facilities of more than $200 million available to the Group.
As at 9.26am, shares at Raffles Medical Group traded at 5 cents higher, or up 0.6%, at 0.88 cents.
