IHH's Turkish Unit To Close Bulgarian Deal This Year

KUALA LUMPUR, May 27 (Bernama) -- IHH Healthcare Bhd expects its Turkish unit to close deals on its Bulgarian foray this year, said Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Dr Tan See Leng. "We have cleared most of the hurdles so we should be on track to close it this year," he told reporters after the company's annual general meeting (AGM) here, Friday. In April this year, the healthcare provider's Turkish unit, Acibadem Healthcare Group, had signed agreements to enter the Bulgarian market by acquiring 100 per cent of Tokuda Group and merge it with Bulgaria's City Clinic Group. Upon completion of the US$107.13 million (RM437 million) deal, Acibadem will be the leading private healthcare operator in Bulgaria with four hospitals totalling some 750 beds. (US$1 = RM4.07) "We have also delivered on our projects pipeline and executed transformational acquisitions in India, thus joining Malaysia, Singapore and Turkey as our fourth home market," he said, adding the group expected the demand for quality healthcare to remain strong, going forward. Dr Tan said while the people might cut their expenditure on discretionary goods when the economy got tough, they would not be prepared to compromise on their health. IHH now operates close to 10,000 hospital beds, a target it had set during its initial public offering to achieve by end-2017. The 10,000 beds are across 49 hospitals in nine countries, and it is slated to add another 3,000 beds over the next two years. "We hope by next year or 2018 we will have a fifth home market," he added. Thursday, IHH reported a higher pre-tax profit of RM355.30 million for the first quarter ended March 31, 2016 from RM232.94 million in the same quarter last year. Its revenue improved to RM2.48 billion versus RM2 billion previously, due to sustained organic growth at existing hospitals across all home markets and continued ramp up of newer hospitals. It maintained a net gearing of 0.19 times as of March 2016 with cash holdings of about RM2.1 billion. During the AGM, shareholders approved all resolutions tabled including the dividend payment of three sen per ordinary share of RM1 (US$0.24) each, payable on July 18, 2016. -- BERNAMA