Dr Chong Tze Sheng (Picture by Sam Fong/ The Edge)

KUALA LUMPUR (July 17): Newly-listed DC Healthcare Holdings Bhd said the group is considering medical tourism as an opportunity for future growth.

During a press conference on Monday (July 17), the aesthetic medical services provider said given the current medical clinics under its belt, it would be able to attract a certain number of foreigners and tourists, citing its Johor Bahru branch as an example of opportunities arising from the foreign market.

“Our Johor Bahru branch has given us the opportunity to tap into the Singaporean market as it is a very close distance away from the border,” it commented. DC Healthcare added that its clinics located in central regions are also seeing growth in servicing foreigners and tourists.

Following its successful listing on Monday with an opening price of 40 sen, compared to its initial price offering (IPO) of 25 sen, DC Healthcare said that the group will focus and commit to delivering its promise of expanding its footprint by opening eight new aesthetic clinics, alongside the expansion of machinery, medical consumables and products.

The launch of its eight new clinics will take place in Johor, Melaka, Negeri Sembilan, Pulau Pinang, Perak, and Kedah, with RM9.44 million of the raised funds allocated for establishing these eight clinics, according to its prospectus.

“We will get all these eight new aesthetic clinics ready and operating within 18 months from today. We believe with all the machines and better expansion to the total number of outlets that we have, we can deliver good results,” said Dr Chong Tze Sheng, managing director of DC Healthcare.

“As we have planned, these geographical expansions will help the group to provide better access to our customers who are currently travelling from these places to our clinics and to cater to any potential customers that are located in these areas,” he added.

All eight branches also plan to operate under the brand of Dr Chong Clinic.

DC Healthcare chief financial officer Wilson Yong said that each branch will require an estimated RM1.5-2 million to build and expects that it would “roughly take around six to nine months for the group to breakeven.”

“We are very optimistic about the prospect of our gross-profit margin, as our aesthetic services are our main revenue contributor, we expect our profit margin to be maintained for a short-term period despite the opening of new branches,” Yong added.

Speaking on the prospects of the group given the opening of borders and increasing international competition, Chong said that this is a challenge the group always considers and that in terms of aesthetic medical practices, Malaysia is among the top in the world as its medical standards are among the best.

The group did not share further information in regard to other future prospects and said that it “will focus on these eight new medical clinics for the next 18 months.”

At 11.06am, the counter was priced at 44 sen and was the most active stock with 160.38 million shares trading hands.

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