Thonbury Healthcare makes SET debut

Dr Boon Vanasin, chairman of the THG board, said that, after successfully floating its shares (ticker symbol: THG) on the first trading day, THG is now ready to pursue leadership among integrated healthcare providers.
It would do that by investing its capital in healthcare-related businesses both locally and internationally and converting its extensive medical expertise and more than four decades of experience into stable growth, he said in  press release on Thursday.
Investment projects in Thailand includes the Thonburi Rehabilitation Hospital located on Bamrung Maung Road, which is expected to become operational in 2018 to serve rehabilitation and physical therapy patients. Another project is the Jin Wellbeing County Project as a community of the elderly on approximately 140 rai (22 hectares) of land in the Rangsit area with an integrated healthcare centre, the first phase of which is expected to be completed in 2018-2019. A third project would involve the expansion of Thonburi Hospital and Thonburi 2 Hospital.
The company is also enhancing its overseas presence, according to the press release. It has acquired a majority stake (58 per cent) in a Chinese corporate vehicle running Welly Hospital in Weihai, China which has already been officially inaugurated and become fully operational.
In addition, it is holding a 10 per cent stake in Aryu International Health Care Co Ltd, a joint-venture firm established jointly with Myanmar partner Ga Mone Pwint Co Ltd, and the management is in the process of increasing the investment proportion to 40 per cent. Ar Yu International Hospital is currently under construction in Yangon and expected to become operational in the second quarter of next year. These projects are expected to increase the company’s revenue and growth opportunities in the future.
THG now has 17 network hospitals, and it is making more investments in healthcare-related businesses to expand both locally and internationally. That would enhance its business potential, its capacity to offer new solutions to patients, and ultimately its standing as a comprehensive healthcare network.
Payupat Mahapol, assistant managing director, Thanachart Securities PCL, as lead underwriter, said that the funds raised on the SET would strengthen THG’s financial position and enhance the company’s capacity to run the expansion projects, and that the company owns a widely well-known brand that is trusted by patients for its four decades’ experience in managing and providing healthcare.
Given the planned expansions in Thailand to increase its capacity to service its patients, Payupat said that THG would benefit from the fact that the country is becoming an ageing society, with the elderly (its target group) becoming more populous and the Thai people more health-conscious and willing to pay for healthcare service. Its enhanced overseas presence would also would provide it the opportunity to become an international healthcare provider.