KPJ to spend up to RM300mil on capex annually

JOHOR BARU: KPJ Healthcare Bhd, which is still bullish on the prospects of private healthcare in the country, will be allocating between RM200mil and RM300mil as capital expenditure (capex) yearly.

Its president and managing director Datuk Amiruddin Abdul Satar said the capex would be used to build new hospitals and upgrade existing hospitals in Malaysian under the company’s stable. “We are allocating the money as capex to capitalise on the promising growth of the segment,’’ he told reporters after the company’s AGM here.

Amiruddin said as Malaysia progressed, demand for private healthcare in the country would also grow in tandem.

He said it would open two new hospitals this year – KPJ Batu Pahat Specialist Hospital and KPJ Miri Specialist Hospital in the third quarter and fourth quarter of the year respectively.

Amiruddin said the company would also be relocating its hospitals in Johor’s Kluang and Kuching, Sarawak in the fourth-quarter of 2019. Amiruddin said the company has no immediate plans to open new hospitals overseas, instead would focus on strengthening its operations in Bangladesh and Indonesia.

Meanwhile, KPJ Healthcare chairman Datuk Kamaruzzaman Abu Kassim said the company would put in more efforts to attract Indonesians seeking medical treatment at private hospitals in the country.

Source : TheStar