SEREMBAN: NSCMH Holdings Sdn Bhd’s private placement exercise to raise RM45mil to part finance the redevelopment of CMH Specialist Hospital has received overwhelming response, forcing its president Datuk Seri Lee Tian Hock to reduce his own personal subscription.
A jubilant Lee said the oversubscription was beyond expectation and sent out a strong signal that behind CMH Specialist Hospital lies the powerful support of the community and its resources.
He said at the closing, the subscriptions had reached 20.23 million shares valued at RM50.57mil, although only 18 million shares worth RM45mil were available.
“There was an oversubscription of RM5.57mil shares or 12.4%.
“Within just seven days, total applications had already exceeded the original target and by the closing date on Sept 6, the hospital had received 39 subscription applications with total funds raised reaching RM50.57mil,” he said at the Negri Sembilan Chinese Maternity Association’s (NSCMA) 91st AGM.
NSCMA owns CMH Specialist Hospital, which was previously known as Negri Sembilan Chinese Maternity Hospital and set up by Chinese philanthropists in 1932.
Lee said he had personally subscribed 10 million shares worth RM25mil on the launch day, as his intention was to inject confidence and momentum into the fundraising effort.
With the oversubscription, he has since decided to reduce this to 7.772 million units valued at RM19.43mil to allow more members and partners to participate in the hospital’s future development.
The funds raised from the exercise are to partially finance the RM120mil construction cost of CMH Specialist Hospital’s new medical block under phase two of its redevelopment project.
The remaining RM80mil will be funded through bank borrowings guaranteed personally by Lee, with corporate guarantees from the NSCMA and NSCMH Holdings.
Lee said the construction of the 10-storey block is expected to begin after Chinese New Year next year. Tenders, he said, will soon be called to demolish the existing block. “The construction of our six-storey carpark with 310 parking bays and costing some RM10mil should be completed in the next two months.
“And when the new 10-storey block is completed in three years, we will have 100 more new beds which will bring the grand total to 166 beds,” he said while the number of specialist clinics will also increase from 16 to 45.
Elaborating on the group’s performance for 2025, Lee said it recorded a net revenue of RM90.9mil, representing a 2.4% increase from the previous year.
The annual bed occupancy rate rose from 78.7% in FY24 to 79.2% in FY25, effectively reaching the maximum utilisation of the hospital’s current 66 beds.
“During the same period, we faced multiple challenges such as higher depreciation and rising manpower costs which pushed profit before tax down to RM7.6mil.
“Yet, there were positive aspects as we maintained a healthy cash flow and invested RM5.5mil in infrastructure and equipment upgrades, most notably in upgrading our hospital information system, strengthening IT, and enhancing cybersecurity resilience,” he said.
Lee said for FY26, the management has set targets of RM92mil in revenue and RM10mil in profit after tax mainly by continuing to optimising operations, managing resources prudently, and actively driving forward the hospital’s expansion plan.
To fulfil its commitment of allocating 25% of profits to staff welfare, the hospital granted eligible employees an average salary increment of 8.1% and distributed RM3.6mil in bonuses FY25, which was equivalent to about two months’ wages.
“I am also pleased to announce that this month, the hospital will also provide a special one-off bonus of RM2mil to reward our employees for their dedicated service,” he said. In anticipation of the hospital’s future growth, it will launch a nursing diploma sponsorship programme tailored for SPM school leavers.
The goal is to recruit at least 50 nurses annually over the next five years with a total investment of RM13mil.
Lee said the hospital also spent RM1.2mil on its Community Care Programme alone for the past year where it subsidised patients’ medical expenses, provided dialysis support as well as other outreach initiatives.
Members also unanimously passed three resolutions during the meeting which among others will allow Lee to continue to offer himself for the presidency although his term ends next year.
The NSCMA constitution previously stated that a president can only serve for three terms with each term covering three years.
“The board and management committee decided to amend that because I will be providing the personal guarantee to the loan and that the banks may also require me to continue as president.
“They have decided to make the amendment so that it will not jeopardise our financings from the banks,” he said.
At the event, Lee also presented cheques to four schools to allow them to carry out their activities – Sek Tinggi Chung Hua (RM300,000), SM Chung Hua, Port Dickson (RM200,000), SMJK Chan Wa (RM150,000) and SMJK Chan Wa II (RM150,000).
