Thomson Medical Pops After Scoring $5.5b Johor Deal; Genting Shares Slide

Healthcare provider reports $47m net loss, largely due to impairments of Vietnam deal

- Kang Wan Chern

Thomson Medical Group scored last week when it saw its shares jump nearly 39 per cent to a 1½-year high of 6.8 cents on Aug 26, a day after it unveiled an RM18 billion (S$5.5 billion) waterfront project in Johor Bahru.

Thomson Medical is controlled by Singapore billionaire Peter Lim, who is reported to have close ties with the Johor royal family. The project will include a 500-bed hospital with aged care facilities, a luxury hotel and serviced residences.

Known as Johor Bay, the development will take place across 10.5ha of land in the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone, near the upcoming Johor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link's Bukit Chagar station.

The hospital will be equipped for oncology, orthopaedics, as well as obstetrics and gynaecology. There will be enough space to double capacity from 500 beds to more than 1,000 beds in the future.

Construction is slated to begin in 2026, with the first phase involving parts of the Thomson Hospital Iskandariah. This should open when the RTS Link becomes fully operational by the end of 2026.

A 47-storey luxury residential tower will also be developed concurrently.

Shares of Thomson Medical moderated through the week to close at 6.1 cents on Aug 29.

It reported after the market closed on Aug 29 a net loss of $47 million for its financial year ended June 30, largely due to impairments associated with its US$381.4 million (S$490 million) acquisition of Vietnam's largest private healthcare group, FV Hospital, in 2023. Revenue for the year rose 12.4 per cent to $394.6 million, after accounting for a dip in contributions from its Singapore business.

SOME BLUE-CHIP STOCKS SLIDE
Shares of Genting Singapore, which runs the Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) integrated resort, slid 3.4 per cent across the week to close at 72 cents on Aug 29 amid heavy trading.