Thailand’s hospital targets Chinese couples wanting second child

Chularat Hospital Pcl, which runs health-care facilities in the provinces east of Bangkok, predicts revenue growth will accelerate as it adds beds and looks to attract Chinese couples to a new fertility clinic.
Revenue from hospital operations may rise at least 20 percent this year, up from 18 percent expansion in 2015, and the total number of beds will grow from around 300 to 500 by next month, said Managing Director Kumpol Plussind. The company aims to open a fertility clinic in 2017 that will target an expected increase in demand from Chinese couples following the scrapping of Beijing’s one-child policy, he said.
“We have a shortage of facilities to serve the rising number of overnight patients and inpatients will offer much better revenue and margins,” Kumpol said in an interview at his office in Samut Prakarn near Bangkok on Friday. Older Chinese couples will need medical help to have a second child and the facilities in China will not be sufficient to meet the need, he said.
Chularat joins other private hospital operators including Bangkok Dusit Medical Services Pcl and Bumrungrad Pcl in boosting capacity to meet rising local demand from an aging local population and medical tourists from Asia. A measure of listed Thai health-care companies has surged 27 percent in the past 12 months, the best-performing group in the SET Index, which has dropped 9.2 percent over the period.
Chularat completed the acquisition of a hospital in Rayong province, 200 kilometers east of Bangkok, for 117 million baht (USD3.3 million) last month. The company’s stocks have climbed 43 percent in the past year, the fifth-best performer among 16 listed health-care companies, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
The company operates seven hospitals and seven clinics in Samut Prakarn, Chachoengsao, Chon Buri and Rayong provinces. Chularat is looking at opportunities for more purchases to boost earnings growth and has allocated about 500 million baht for capital expenditure and acquisitions this year, said Kumpol. Bloomberg