Golden Meditech Announces 2011/ 2012 Annual Results

HONG KONG, June 27, 2012 /PRNewswire-Asia/ --

Financial Highlights

Golden Meditech Holdings Limited (“Golden Meditech,” together with its subsidiaries collectively as the “Group,” - 801.HK; 910801.TW), a leading integrated healthcare enterprise in China, is pleased to announce the Group’s annual results for the year ended 31 March 2012 (“Fiscal Year”). During the year under review, the Group continued to report growth in revenues from its two core business segments, namely healthcare services business and medical devices business. Total revenue for the Fiscal Year rose by 32% to HK$433,222,000. While excluding non-cash impacts from the fair value change of financial liabilities and financial assets, profits after taxes for the period, which included contributions from its affiliates, China Cord Blood Corporation and FunTalk China Holdings Limited, grew by 12.8% relative to the previous year as these two associates together contributed HK$158,192,000 in profits to the Group. Profit attributable to shareholders for the year decreased by 55.5% to HK$152,877,000, if the abovementioned non-cash effect is included.

Commenting on the annual results, Mr. Kam Yuen, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Group, said, “Despite volatility amidst the global economy during the year, the Group reported growth in revenues from each business segment, leveraging its industry leading position and unparalleled execution skill. Revenues from our healthcare services business and medical devices business accounted for 34% and 60% of total revenue, respectively. The revenue mix has been enhanced and the Group has been evolving from a single-business company, focusing on medical devices business, into a leading integrated healthcare enterprise in China, with two major business segments that are complementary and supplementary to each other. At the same time, we have introduced New Horizon Capital, a China-focused institutional investor, to become a strategic shareholder of the Group to strengthen our shareholder base. With its extensive China-specific experience and industry knowledge, we believe the introduction is a sound move that will benefit the Group in achieving its long-term goals.

During the year, the Group bought back about HK$48,619,000 worth of the Company’s shares from open market. If inclusive of a final dividend of HK one cent per share proposed by the Board of Directors, the payout to shareholders is equivalent to HK3.4 cents per share or 40% of the Group’s annual operating profit.

Healthcare Services Segment

Revenues from the healthcare services segment grew by 84% on a year-to-year basis to HK$147,921,000. This segment includes the two renowned Daopei hematology hospitals in Beijing and Shanghai and Shanghai East International Medical Center (SEIMC). The stable performance of the hematology hospitals is in-line with the Group’s expectations. SEIMC also made significant contributions to the Group’s revenue since August 2011.

In June 2011, the Group announced the successful acquisition of a new hospital facility in Beijing‘s Haidian District, which consists of a partially completed hospital facility with a site area of approximately 18,692 sqm and permissible construction area of 74,035 sqm. This site will have a 500-bed capacity after completion, five times the current capacity of Daopei hospital in Beijing. Construction of the new hospital is well underway and is expected to be completed by the end of 2012. The Group thus intends to relocate Beijing Daopei Hospital’s existing operation from its current location to the new, expanded premise in Haidian District. The new hospital will be a top-notched hospital that is set to provide hematology services in addition to other discipline and outpatient facilities that will cater to its surrounding neighborhoods.

During the year under review, the Group also made substantial progress in its medical insurance administration business process outsourcing (BPO) joint venture, GM Medicare Co., Ltd. This segment, consisting of providing administration outsourcing services for medical insurance companies and claim processing services for hospitals, has commenced trial operation during this year.

China Cord Blood Corporation, the Group’s associate company, has reported RMB380,490,000 in revenue during the Fiscal Year ended March 31, 2012 compared to RMB339,532,000 for the previous fiscal year, equivalent to 12% growth. Total number of subscribers grew up to 239,754, up 29% from the previous year. The Group increased its shareholding in China Cord Blood Corporation and currently owns 41.4% of its shares. CCBC contributed HK$63,683,000 to the Group’s profits during the year under review.

Medical Devices Segment

With the introduction of a number of policies, such as the “Level III General Hospital Accreditation and Administration Standards” that helps promote more clinical usage of autologous blood recovery devices, the medical devices segment will benefit from a favourable regulatory environment in the future. Higher clinical utilization for devices led to 8.4% year-on-year growth in revenue from medical accessories sales, referring to the exclusive consumables for the Group’s medical devices. Medical devices sales also grew by 3.4% year-on-year as the Group’s products continue to secure its market share amongst top-tier hospitals.

China National Medical Equipment Co., Ltd (CMIC), an associate company of the Group and the affiliate company of Sinopharm Group Co. Ltd., is one of the leading medical device distributors in China. The Group currently own 17.5% stake in CMIC as its second largest shareholder. CMIC contributed HK$11,384,000 to the Group’s profits as an associate company during the review period.

Strategic Investments

The Group’s strategic investments currently include 29.4% stake in Fortress Group Limited (Fortress), which owns the privatized FunTalk China after its delisting from NASDAQ and a Chinese herbal business. The Chinese herbal medicine business consists of a GMP-approved production facility over a site area of 58,000 sqm ideally located in a prime location in Municipal Shanghai. Fortress contributed HK$94,509,000 to the Group with 28% increase relative to the previous year.

Outlook and Strategies

Looking ahead, Mr. Kam commented, “The Group adheres to the view that the future outlook of China‘s healthcare industry will remain positive. The Group will continue to focus on the healthcare industry while building on its integrated healthcare business platform in China. The new site for the expanded Daopei Hospital in Beijing will be another growth catalyst to this segment. We believe the opening of the new Beijing hospital will be instrumental in cementing the Group’s market position in the rapidly growing private hospital market in China, and will expand our operations in the hospital market and strengthen its brand name and revenue base. Hence, we will continue to progressively yet prudently explore further expansion opportunities in the hospital management market. In addition, we also see that the Group’s medical devices segment will further benefit from a favourable policy environment that is supportive to alternative solutions to allogeneic blood transfusion. We believe our product penetration into lower-tiered hospitals and the improvement in utilization will be beneficial to our medical device segment in the long run.”

About Golden Meditech Holdings Limited

Golden Meditech Holdings Limited is China‘s leading integrated-healthcare enterprise. Golden Meditech is a first-mover in China, having established dominant positions in medical devices and healthcare services markets, thanks to its strengths in innovation and market expertise and the ability to capture emerging market opportunities. Going forward, the Group will continue to pursue a leading position in China‘s healthcare industry both through organic growth and strategic expansion.

SOURCE Golden Meditech Holdings Limited