Thomson Medical shares soar 39% on mega JB waterfront project
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Thomson Medical's $5.5 billion development will include a 500-bed hospital with aged care facilities, a luxury hotel and serviced residences.
PHOTO: THOMSON MEDICAL GROUP
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SINGAPORE – Shares of Thomson Medical Group surged nearly 39 per cent on Aug 26, after the healthcare provider announced plans for a massive waterfront development in Johor Bahru.
Its shares hit a 1½-year high of 6.8 cents shortly after the market opened, before closing up 22.5 per cent at six cents.
The stock was the most heavily traded counter by volume, with a whopping 200.6 million shares changing hands.
Thomson Medical is controlled by Singapore billionaire Peter Lim. His son Kiat Lim is its executive vice-chairman.
The RM18 billion (S$5.5 billion) project, to be developed across 10.5ha of land controlled by Thomson Medical in the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ), will include a 500-bed hospital with aged care facilities, a luxury hotel and serviced residences.
The project, known as Johor Bay, will be located along Jalan Ibrahim Sultan, which is around 800m from the customs, immigration and quarantine complex and less than 1.2km from the upcoming Johor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link’s Bukit Chagar Station. This will facilitate easy access for patients from Singapore.
It will also be near ferry terminals connecting Johor to Batam and the Riau Islands in Indonesia.
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.
The hospital, which was announced in March, 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 future.
A 47-storey luxury residential tower will also be developed concurrently.
Thomson Medical is the latest Singapore company seeking to capitalise on lower costs and ample space across the Causeway for further growth and expansion.
Healthcare has been earmarked as a key growth sector in the JS-SEZ, with the Johor government inviting international health and medical players to invest.
The initiative aims to position Johor as a regional hub for medical tourism and advanced healthcare services. Officials expect the JS-SEZ to attract 50 projects and generate 20,000 skilled jobs over the next five years.
Thomson Medical last announced expansion plans in 2023, when it acquired Vietnam’s FV Hospital for up to US$381.4 million (S$490.2 million).
