OUE Healthcare Ltd slipped into the red for the half-year ended Jun 30, recording a net loss of S$1.75 million against a profit of S$16.65 million a year earlier, as property revaluation deficits, a goodwill write-down and wider joint-venture losses offset broadly flat revenue.

Basic loss per share came in at 0.34 Singapore cent, widening from a 0.05-cent loss in the prior period. The board did not declare any interim dividend, as in the corresponding period last year.

Revenue edged up 0.2 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to S$75.21 million. Healthcare operations – comprising the Wuxi hospital in China and Singapore’s O2 Healthcare Group – contributed S$28.93 million, up 17 per cent YoY, helped by higher patient volumes and the consolidation of O2 Group earnings. The healthcare assets segment, which reflects rental from First Real Estate Investment Trust (First REIT), delivered S$46.28 million, down 8 per cent amid forex headwinds and the earlier disposal of an Indonesian hospitality asset.

At the pre-tax level, healthcare assets remained the main profit engine, generating S$23.18 million (1H2025: S$31.18 million). Healthcare operations posted a pre-tax loss of S$11.18 million, while the investments segment contributed S$1.37 million. Overall group profit before tax slumped 73 per cent to S$6.78 million.

Cost of sales rose 18 per cent to S$21.38 million, narrowing gross margin to 71.6 per cent from 75.9 per cent. Other net expenses swung to a S$5.67 million loss from a S$3.08 million gain, weighed down by S$2.47 million in fair-value losses on First REIT’s investment properties, a S$2.87 million goodwill impairment tied to Brainy World Holdings, and S$0.46 million in derivative losses. Net finance costs eased 12 per cent to S$14.43 million on lower interest expense.

Share of losses from equity-accounted investees widened to S$10.84 million (1H2025: S$3.38 million), reflecting start-up costs at the group’s China joint-venture hospitals and adjustments related to China Merchants Lippo Hospital Management.

On the balance sheet, total assets slipped to S$1.25 billion from S$1.32 billion at end-2025, after reclassifying S$460.1 million of Indonesian properties earmarked for divestment by First REIT as assets held for sale. Net gearing stood at 56.4 per cent. Cash and cash equivalents fell to S$60.3 million from S$83.9 million, mainly after a S$33.3 million redemption of perpetual securities and distributions to First REIT unitholders.

Strategically, the group is advancing an integrated regional healthcare platform. Key initiatives include: • Completion and July 2026 opening of the Shenzhen Prince Bay Hospital, bolstering presence in China’s Greater Bay Area. • Expansion of Singapore operations via Healthway Medical Group’s planned purchase of Bridgepoint Health’s 16 clinics, and the launch of integrative medicine and a new SleepWell Laboratory. • Support for First REIT’s S$471.5 million divestment of eight Indonesian hospitals and three non-core assets, approved by unitholders on Jun 23; proceeds are expected to fund a special distribution and strengthen the trust’s balance sheet.

Management expects Asia’s ageing demographics and rising chronic-disease burden to underpin long-term demand for medical and eldercare services, although geopolitical uncertainties, foreign-exchange volatility and cost inflation remain near-term challenges.