Healthway Medical narrows Q4 net loss to S$28.8m

SINGAPORE - Clinic operator Healthway Medical Corporation (HMC) posted on Friday (Feb 23) a fourth-quarter net loss of S$28.8 million, narrowing its loss by 35.6 per cent from a loss of S$44.8 million in the previous year.

This translated to a loss per share of 0.7 Singapore cent for the quarter, down from a loss per share of 1.82 Singapore cents in the year-ago period.

Full year net loss was S$34.8 million, 21.1 per cent lower than its net loss of S$44.1 million in the preceding year.

The group's net loss for the fourth quarter and full year was mainly attributable to the impairment of goodwill, as well as operating loss due to a "challenging operating environment", HMC said.

For fiscal year 2017, total operating costs decreased by 2.5 per cent to S$137.7 million, mainly due to lower allowance for doubtful loan, trade and other receivables of S$35.3 million.

However, this was offset by an increase in allowance for the impairment of goodwill by S$19 million, higher staff costs of S$9.3 million, higher lease expenses of S$1.7 million, as well as an increase in medical supplies, consumables and laboratory expenses by S$0.7 million and depreciation expenses of S$0.2 million mainly attributable to the acquisition of Healthway Medical Enterprise (HME) in the second quarter of FY17.

For the three months ended Dec 31, revenue rose 24.6 per cent to S$29 million.

Turnover was also up by 8.4 per cent to S$104.8 million for the full year. This was mainly due to an increase in revenue of S$1 million from the primary healthcare segment, and another S$7.1 million from the group's specialist and wellness healthcare segment. Both segments include revenue from clinics owned by HME.

Shares in HMC closed at 5.1 Singapore cents apiece on Wednesday, unchanged from the previous day's close.

Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.