Sime Darby Healthcare consolidating its hospitals

The Edge

KUALA LUMPUR: SIME DARBY BHD subsidiary, Sime Darby Healthcare Sdn Bhd, has sold its day care facility in Petaling Jaya (Sime Darby Specialist Centre Megah) to BP Healthcare group about a month after opening its RM143 million Sime Darby Medical Centre ParkCity near Kepong in Kuala Lumpur.
The sale price of Sime Darby Specialist Centre Megah was not disclosed, but it is believed to be negligible to the group’s overall revenue. Sime Darby Specialist Centre Megah, which will be renamed BP Specialist Centre Taman Megah, offers a variety of services and procedures, including gastroscopy, CT scan, mammogram, ENT (ear, nose and throat), family medicine, hearing and dental.
An industry executive said the disposal of the “small” Sime Darby Specialist Centre Megah will enable Sime Darby Healthcare to concentrate on its three bigger hospitals — its flagship Sime Darby Medical Centre Subang Jaya, Sime Darby Medical Centre Ara Damansara and Sime Darby Medical Centre ParkCity. Sime Darby Healthcare also owns and operates a nursing college called Sime Darby Nursing and Health Sciences College.
The 393-bed Sime Darby Medical Centre Subang Jaya has been the mainstay of Sime Darby Healthcare as the 220-bed Sime Darby Medical Centre Ara Damansara was only officially opened in March last year. It was bought for RM140 million in 2010.
Sime Darby Medical Centre Subang Jaya contributed the bulk of Sime Darby Healthcare’s revenue in the last two financial years. For the financial year ended June 30, 2011 (FY11), total revenue was RM319 million and increased to RM348 million for FY12.
The 300-bed Sime Darby Medical Centre ParkCity is leased from Perdana ParkCity group under a build and lease concept, with a 15-year leasehold agreement.
Sime Darby Healthcare managing director Raja Azlan Shah Raja Azwa was quoted as saying that both Sime Darby Medical Centre Ara Damansara and Sime Darby Medical Centre ParkCity are expected to post profits within three to five years.
Bernama reported that the purchase of Sime Darby Specialist Centre Megah marked the first ever acquisition by BP Healthcare since it started as a medical laboratory in Ipoh, Perak, 30 years ago, before growing into a leading integrated healthcare group.
“This acquisition is a very significant move for the group in line with our vision of having a chain of BP hospitals eventually. It will be the latest expansion of our considerable healthcare facilities and drive towards our target of establishing 15 specialist centres over the next three years,” said BP Healthcare deputy chairman and group finance and investment director Chevy Beh.
BP Specialist Centre Taman Megah will be the fifth specialist centre within the group and will remain a day care centre. BP Healthcare treats four million patients a year and the number is growing, Beh said.
The group has four specialist centres with three in the Klang Valley — Glenmarie (Shah Alam), Cheras (Kuala Lumpur) and Bukit Tinggi (Klang). The fourth is in Ipoh, the headquarters of the group.
BP Healthcare is also Southeast Asia’s largest medical diagnostic chain with over 100 outlets in Malaysia and a joint venture in Indonesia with the Ciputra Group.
This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on Jan 16, 2013.