KPJ Healthcare to tap into senior living care business

JOHOR BAHRU: KPJ Healthcare Bhd, which is eyeing potential growth in the senior living care business for the group, is still looking into the right model to serve increasing demand in the local market. 

Its President and Managing Director, Datuk Amiruddin Abdul Satar said the company is still assessing the size of the potential market while looking at the needs and demand for senior living care facilities among local residents. 

"It is the question of timing because we see the prospect in coming years (but) how soon and how far it is depends on the readiness of the market. 

"Within the next two to three years, we will be sure of the size of the market and the extend of the service that we can offer to the market," he told reporters after the company's annual general meeting here on Thursday. 

Amiruddin said the contribution from that segment is still small, but the company is looking for the right concept that would make the market more receptive, especially in the domestic market. 

At the moment, KPJ Healthcare has an aged care facility in Australia, the KPJ Senior Living Care at Jeta Gardens, Queensland, as well as senior living care facilities at Tawakkal Health Centre in Jalan Pahang, Kuala Lumpur and the Sibu Geriatric Health  and  Nursing Centre in Sibu, Sarawak. 

For the last financial year ended Dec 31, 2014, its aged care facility in Australia has made a steady progress to record a revenue growth of 5% to RM29.5 million from RM28 million. 

Meanwhile, Amiruddin said the company is looking at a 10% growth in revenue in the current financial year ending Dec 31, 2015, riding on a steady momentum of double-digit growth that the company had been experiencing for the past five years. 

He said as more people opted for private hospitals as well as medical insurance, the demands for private hospitals would continue to be strong, creating more business opportunities for KPJ Healthcare. 

Amiruddin said the company's focus would continue to be in the domestic market. 

As expansion mostly took place in Malaysia, hospitals would continue to be the most significant revenue contributor, making up 90% of the total revenue.

The healthcare arm of Johor Corporation registered a 13% growth in revenue amounting to RM2.64 billion compared with RM2.33 billion in 2013.- Bernama