Raffles Medical

Raffles Medical: says it will consider buying a small center in Singapore offering specialized services if there are suitable opportunities, though it declined to identify potential targets. The group is seeking acquisitions to capitalize on rising health-care spending in Asia, underpinned by rising wealth and positive demographics. Raffles Medical joins Religare Health Trust and IHH Healthcare in tapping industry sales that’s forecast to almost triple within five years. Hospital revenues in the Asia-Pacific region will climb to US$1.09 t by 2017 from US$377.9 b last year, aided by rising incomes and prevalence of chronic diseases, according to Frost & Sullivan. Raffles Medical still hopes the Singapore govt will approve plans first proposed three years ago to expand its flagship hospital. Says it is a lot closer to getting approval for the project, which will boost the facility’s space by about one-third from 300,000 sf currently, without specifying a time frame. Raffles Medical generates almost all its earnings in Singapore, where it runs Raffles Hospital and 78 clinics. The company also has medical centers in Hong Kong and Shanghai.