Singapore’s 50 Richest
LOO CHOON YONG
42 | FORBES ASIA AUGUST 2017
MUNSHI AHMED FOR FORBES
Mayo for the Mainland
Loo Choon Yong is taking his Raffles hospital brand to China, and
the firm’s expansion mode makes investors anxious.
BY JANE A. PETERSON
I
t’s 3 p.m. on a sultry Friday outside Raffles
Hospital in Singapore’s busy Bugis district, a
stone’s throw from the Arab quarter. Work-
men in hard hats move swiftly about, striving
to complete a long-awaited 20-story exten-
sion to this flagship of Singapore’s second-biggest
private hospital group.
Inside, on level 11, Loo Choon Yong, executive
chairman and cofounder of Raffles Medical Group,
steps into the C-suite hallway for a photo shoot.
It’s lined with framed illustrations of corporate
milestones; among them, the planned $250 million
expansion of the company’s presence in China
with two new hospitals. Dapper, trim and relaxed,
Loo could pass for younger than 68. He is finally
game for an interview after a two-year pursuit.
Taking a long-term view, Raffles Medical’s rise
is impressive. Starting with two clinics in 1976, the
company listed in 1997 and opened its Bugis hos-
pital in 2001. With a market capitalization of $1.7
billion, and revenues last year of $345 million, the
company operates 100 clinics across the region.
Raffles Medical’s network of 380 doctors serves
2.2 million patients in 13 Asian cities, including
6 in China. With an estimated net worth of $890
million, Loo’s 51% stake, which he shares with his
wife, Jacqueline Leong, puts him at No. 34 on this
year’s top 50 list.
But therein lies a tension point. Loo’s count is
down 18% this year, as the company’s stock price
reflects investor worry over its buildup, including
the 700-bed hospital in Chongqing in southwest
China due to open next year.
Says Andrew Chow, head of research for
Singapore at UOB Kay Hian, “In the next 12 to 18
months, the China investment will be a drag on
earnings. It will take a while to ramp up, and fixed
costs will be ahead of that.” (It’s a similar story for
Raffles’ Malaysian competitor, IHH Healthcare,
which has three China projects under way.)
Loo acknowledges Raffles Medical has a “very
difficult” road. “But we are serious people,” he
adds. “We do our sums.” After studying Chinese
health care for 32 years and walking through some
100 Chinese hospitals, Loo believes China finally
has enough well-heeled people—140 million per
his estimate—who can afford Raffles’ international
standard of care.
Chinese regulations have also eased, allowing
the company to own its hospitals with joint ven-
ture partners—in Chongqing with the Liangjiang
municipal government and in a subsequent Shang-
hai structure with a developer there. Loo main-
tains that standards in the Chinese hospitals will
be equivalent to those in the building he occupies.
For example, doctors—now being recruited locally
and internationally—will first undergo training in
Singapore. Some of the Raffles doctors in Singa-
pore have volunteered to join the Chinese staffs,
where up to 300 M.D.s will be needed. “There
are plenty of doctors, if you know how to look for
them,” says Loo.
Beijing and Shenzhen, where Raffles already
operates clinics, want hospitals, too. Loo says he’ll
expand at a measured pace. “We want to make
sure we will manage them well. We are not in any
hurry.”
It’s not just expansion that could weigh on him.
After two decades of nearly double-digit growth,
the company’s revenues dampened slightly in the
first quarter. The local economy was sluggish, and
lower-priced regional rivals kept Singapore’s medi-
