{"id":740067,"date":"2026-06-16T11:45:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T11:45:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/740067\/"},"modified":"2026-06-16T11:45:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T11:45:08","slug":"kpj-wont-rush-ma-deals-amid-high-healthcare-valuations-says-md","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/740067\/","title":{"rendered":"KPJ won\u2019t rush M&A deals amid high healthcare valuations, says MD"},"content":{"rendered":"

KUALA LUMPUR (June 16): KPJ Healthcare Bhd (KL:KPJ<\/a>) remains open to mergers and acquisitions to support domestic expansion, but is taking a cautious approach due to high healthcare sector valuations, said president and managing director Chin Keat Chyuan.<\/p>\n

For now, the group is focused on improving and maximising its existing network of 30 hospitals.<\/p>\n

KPJ currently operates 4,070 beds at a 65.9% occupancy rate, largely driven by its Malaysian operations, and aims to expand capacity to between 5,000 and 6,000 beds over the next five years, said Chin.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile we have 30 hospitals, the key question is whether we are maximising productivity, whether admissions per bed and overall utilisation are in line with or better than peers,\u201d he said at a press conference after the group\u2019s annual general meeting on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf there is a compelling opportunity, whether greenfield or brownfield, we remain open to it,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

On KPJ’s regional footprint, Chin said KPJ exited its Dhaka operations in Bangladesh in June last year amid civil unrest, completing the disposal for a nominal BDT1 million (RM34,000) as part of an ongoing portfolio rationalisation. The asset comprised the Sheikh Fazilatunnessa Mujib Memorial KPJ Specialised Hospital & Nursing College which is both a hospital and an education institution.<\/p>\n

Following the exit, KPJ\u2019s overseas presence is now concentrated in Thailand and Australia, where it operates hospital and retirement village businesses.<\/p>\n

Chin said the group continues to review its portfolio and has not ruled out further divestments or expansion for regional operation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are constantly evaluating whether these assets are worth retaining. Running a business is not just about holding assets, but whether they can scale and deliver sustainable returns. If not, there is little value in keeping them,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the same time, we are not shying away from opportunities to expand our footprint, particularly to tap growing medical tourism demand and build our network beyond Malaysia and Southeast Asia.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

For the first quarter ended March 31, 2026 (1QFY2026), the overseas segment recorded a revenue of RM13.8 million, up 12% year-on-year, with earnings before interest, tax and depreciation (Ebitda) of RM10 million and profit before tax of RM4.9 million.<\/p>\n

Overseas operations accounted for only about 1% of group revenue, with Malaysia remaining the core earnings driver.<\/p>\n

Shares of KPJ were unchanged at RM3.18 at the time of writing on Tuesday, valuing the private hospital operator at RM14.39 billion.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\nKPJ expands inventory, sees minimal cost impact as Mideast tension lifts supply risks<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"KUALA LUMPUR (June 16): KPJ Healthcare Bhd (KL:KPJ) remains open to mergers and acquisitions to support domestic expansion,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":740068,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[64,63,137,500],"class_list":["post-740067","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-health","tag-healthcare"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/740067","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=740067"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/740067\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/740068"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=740067"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=740067"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=740067"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}