Raffles Medical could be worth a bet

Raffles medical appeared to be near 3 year low levels.

Increased Healthcare Spending

"Singapore may have to foot a bigger health bill to care for its ageing population.

Government expenditure on healthcare is expected to "rise quite sharply" in the next three to five years, Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat said yesterday.

He expects it to go up by at least $3 billion by 2020 from the current levels."

Source: http://www.straitstimes.com/politics/spending-on-healthcare-expected-to-rise-sharply

FY2017 Results

Raffles Medical reported a 5% increase in operating cashflow in FY2017 which enabled the group to support its investments in Raffles Hospital Extension and its China expansion plans. 

Government Partnerships

It also maintained a partnership with the Ministry of Health and Agency for Integrated Care(AIC) to provide accessible and comprehensive family medicine. This partnership enabled Raffles to improve its relationship with government bodies, and thus managed to clinch an Air Border Screening contract by MOH and Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore. 

Conclusion

In the years to come, healthcare spending will continue to increase due to aging population and inflation of healthcare costs. There is only one factor that could affect investor's perception on Raffles Medical. The cash intensive investments towards China namely the Shanghai and Chongqing hospitals. Although they did mention that the progress is on track, whether both this hospitals will contribute positively to raffles or continue to incur losses remains a mystery.