Dr Bernard Lee Mun Kam, founder and CEO of Singapore Paincare Holdings, has raised his stake in the company in a married deal.
On April 8, Lee acquired 193,000 shares for $42,460 or 22 cents each. This brings his stake to some 48.7 million shares or 27.11%, up from 27.01%.
The last time any insider made an acquisition was on Nov 29, 2021, when Sian Chay Medical Institution, a substantial shareholder of the company, acquired 950,825 shares for $180,656.75. This brought its stake to nearly 29.3 million shares or 16.3%, up from 15.78% previously.
Singapore Paincare operates a chain of clinics including those that specialise in pain treatment. It has gradually been expanding its presence by taking stakes in other clinics and making the doctors running those clinics part of the company. It has also diversified into other healthcare segments such as traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) services.
Singapore Paincare sees synergy between the different types of medical services. “The addition of TCM to our suite of services enables us to offer alternative pain treatments and reflect the deliberate and intentional approach that we are taking to create a comprehensive pain-care ecosystem that will facilitate two-way referral of patients, which we believe will contribute positively to revenue growth in the long run,” says Lee.
As at Feb 10, Singapore Paincare has 13 clinics offering five main services including specialist pain-care services, primary healthcare, health screening, physiotherapy and TCM.
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On Feb 14, the company reported earnings of $2.3 million for its 1HFY2022 ended Dec 31, 2021, more than treble of the $0.7 million recorded the year earlier. Revenue in the same period was up 70.9% y-o-y to $8.3 million.
According to the company, earnings improved due to the provision of vaccination services and contributions from newly acquired clinics.
F&B player buys back shares
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ST Group Food Industries, which operates a chain of F&B outlets in Australia and New Zealand under brands such as PappaRich, NeNe Chicken, Gong Cha and Ippudo, has been buying back its own shares.
On April 12, the company acquired 30,100 shares for 11.8 cents each. This follows earlier purchases of 50,000 shares each at 11.7 cents on April 7 and 8. These three transactions brought the total number of shares bought back under the current mandate to 420,200 units.
Previously, the company had made purchases on days including March 29 when acquired 50,000 shares for 11.8 cents each.
On Feb 10, the company reported revenue of A$20.3 million ($20.6 million) for 1HFY2022 ended December 2021, down 1.7% from 1HFY2021. Earnings fell 20.1% from A$455,091 to A$355,550.
Despite lower earnings, the company is paying higher interim dividends of 0.17 Australian cents per share, versus 0.15 Australian cents last year.
In its earnings commentary, ST Group notes that the pandemic has affected businesses, leading to lower revenue and higher costs.
Although the operating environment of the F&B industry is expected to remain challenging, with higher vaccination rates, the markets in which it operates in are on their way to achieving the post-Covid “new normal”.
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The group also says it is always on the lookout for exciting F&B brands to introduce to the key geographical markets that it operates in.
As at Dec 31, 2021, ST Group owns 50 outlets across the various brands while another 90 outlets are sub-franchised or sub-licensed. As at June 30, 2021, the corresponding numbers were 48 and 82 respectively. ST Group says it plans to open at least another 13 outlets by June.
