KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 24 — Sime Darby Bhd has announced plans to divest its hospital business and its 3,237.46 hectares of land in Labu, Negeri Sembilan, group chief executive officer Datuk Jeffri Salim Davidson said.

This, he said, is aimed at reducing the conglomerate’s borrowings, following its 61.2 per cent stake acquisition in UMW Holdings Bhd from Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) for RM3.57 billion.

The exercise, one of the largest merger and acquisition deals in Malaysia, will strategically transform Sime Darby into a leading automotive player in the country with the addition of Toyota and Perodua, capturing up to 60 per cent of domestic automotive total industry volume.

The group expects to complete the takeover by end-February 2024.

“Sime Darby has previously divested some of its non-core businesses. What remains, and obviously the significant one, is the hospital. The hospital is non-core, which is why it’s a part of the divestment,” he told the media at Sime Darby’s fourth quarter results media briefing today.

Jeffri said these are the two significant aspects, whereas there are other smaller entities in the company’s portfolio that don’t significantly impact the overall performance of the company.

Currently, Sime Darby has a joint venture with Ramsay Healthcare, known as Ramsay Sime Darby Healthcare (RSDH), which is 50 per cent owned by Sime Darby and another 50 per cent owned by Ramsay Healthcare.

This joint venture encompasses seven hospitals in Malaysia and Indonesia, boasting a total of 1,500 licensed beds.

Separately, in a statement earlier today, Sime Darby Bhd today announced a net profit of RM1.46 billion for the financial year ended June 30, 2023 (FY2023), up by 32.2 per cent from the RM1.1 billion recorded in the same period last year.

The better performance was mainly due to improved results from its industrial division as its Australasian operations delivered higher profits from the motors business in Malaysia, and a gain on the disposal of properties in Hong Kong.

The conglomerate said its revenue also increased 13.6 per cent to RM48.3 billion in FY2023 versus RM42.5 billion in FY2022.

For the fourth quarter ended June 30, 2023 (4Q FY2023), the group’s net profit jumped to RM622 million from RM278 million in the same quarter last financial year, while revenue for the quarter under review rose 22.4 per cent to RM13.3 billion, compared with RM10.9 billion in 4Q FY2022.

Sime Darby also declared a second interim dividend of 10 sen per share for 4Q FY2023, payable on September 29, 2023. — Bernama