One-off costs associated with the acquisition of healthcare business Sasteria in April dampened results for mainboard-listed Thomson Medical Group in its first-half year.

Group profit fell 58.4 per cent to $5.5 million, largely due to a combination of higher operating expenses owing to cost inflation of goods and services, one-off acquisition-related expenses, costs associated with expansion such as hospital expansion and new clinics, and higher financing costs owing to additional bank loans taken as part of the acquisition of Sasteria.

Revenue for the six months ended June 30 rose 8.1 per cent to $105.5 million.

The gain in revenue was due to the improved performance from the healthcare business.

"Amid more competition and the increasing cost of business, our operations in Singapore and Malaysia continue to do well with increases in revenue and patient loads in both markets," said group chairman Ng Ser Miang.

He added that the group's recent joint venture with IVI-RMA, the largest medical group in the world specialising in assisted reproductive technology, would be headquartered in Singapore and act as "the springboard for Thomson Medical Group to plant its brand of private healthcare across Asia".

Earnings per share dropped to 0.021 cent from 0.051 cent previously.

Net asset value per share increased to 2.82 cents, up from 2.4 cents six months ago.