KUALA LUMPUR: Sime Darby Bhd and partner Ramsay Health Care Ltd will likely finalise the sale of Ramsay Sime Darby HealthCare Sdn Bhd (RHSD) in the last quarter of this year or the first quarter of 2024.
Sime Darby group chief executive officer Jeffri Salim Davidson said the ongoing divestment process of their 50:50 joint venture in RHSD had attracted significant interest from various industry players.
"I am optimistic that once we finalise the transaction, there will likely be certain conditions that need to be met.
"Our aim is to wrap up this process by either the last quarter of this year or the initial quarter of the subsequent year," he told reporters after announcing Sime Darby's 2023 results here today.
RHSD currently operates seven hospitals in Malaysia and Indonesia.
In Malaysia, they include Subang Jaya Medical Centre, ParkCity Medical Centre, Ara Damansara Medical Centre and Bukit Tinggi Medical Centre.
In a brief announcement with Bursa Malaysia in June, the group said that it was undertaking a process for the sale of a 50 per cent in RHSD.
Jeffri said the group's intention was to pare down its borrowing by completing all the proposals via divesting the non-core business, and RHSD is one of them.
Two years ago it divested its 8,000 acres of plantation land in Labu, Negri Sembilan and put up its port asset in China Weifang in Shandong, China for sale as part of non-core asset monetisation exercise.
Subsequently, Sime Darby would double its net gearing ratio to 0.40 times from 0.20 times as at the year ended June 30, 2022.
Meanwhile, the group said its net profit rose 32.2 per cent to RM1.46 billion for the year ended June 30, 2023 (FY23) from RM1.1 billion last year.
This was mainly due to improved results from the industrial division's Australasia operations, strong performance from the motor business in Malaysia and a gain on the disposal of properties in Hong Kong.
The group reported RM48.3 billion revenue in FY23, up 13.6 per cent from FY22.
For the fourth quarter, Sime Darby's net profit jumped 124 per cent to RM622 million. Revenue for the quarter increased 22.4 per cent to RM13.3 billion from RM10.9 billion a year ago.
Sime Darby declared a second interim dividend of 10 sen per share for the fourth quarter, bringing the total dividend pay-out for FY23 to 13 sen a share or RM886 million, representing a pay-out of 61 per cent of net profit.
Jeffri said the strong performance was a testament to its resilience amid a challenging market environment.
"Despite the headwinds that we have been experiencing in China, our other markets have performed well," Jeffri said in a statement.
The company, he said, planned to grow its industrial division in Australia.
"With our acquisition of Onsite Rental Group, which is a leader in the mining and construction equipment rental market, he said the company is set to capture the growing demand across Australia's resources, infrastructure, and energy sectors.
"We look forward to seeing Onsite continue contributing positively to our earnings. Meanwhile, our recent announcement to acquire Cavpower Group, the Caterpillar dealer in South Australia, is a rare opportunity to expand our industrial footprint in Australia," he said.
On the motors division front, Jeffri said its pre-tax profit increased 104 per cent to RM555 million in the fourth quarter, mainly due to a gain on the disposal of properties and strong motors performance in Malaysia.
At 5pm, shares in Sime Darby rose 0.48 per cent or one sen to RM2.11.