Is Raffles Medical a Good Stock to Buy now? (SGX: BSL / RAFG.SI) I’m Kind of Disappointed…
Last Updated on 4 weeks ago by Antony C.
Right now Raffles Medical’s (BSL.SI / RAFG.SI) share price is at SGD$0.995. At this price, Raffles Medical is valued at a price-to-book ratio of 1.804 and a trailing distribution yield of 2.510%. With the current valuation, would I invest in it?
Let’s go through it using my 7 steps guide to get started investing in Singapore and find the best dividend stocks.
- Debt to Equity Ratio
- Dividend Yield
- Dividend Payout Ratio
- EPS Growth Rate
- Return of Equity (ROE)
- Price-to-Book Ratio
- MOAT
Disclaimer: I may or may not have invest in any of the stocks/REITs/ETFs, what’s listed here is only for entertainment purpose only and it should never be used as any form of investment advice. Past performance ≠ future results. While I’ve been investing for +15 years, I am still learning, this is my stock investment diary, and I wish to share what I learn during my investment journey so you may learn from both my success and mistakes. Enjoy!
Business Background
Raffles Medical Group was founded in 1976 and is based in Singapore. It is a leading integrated private healthcare provider primary in Singapore. Raffles Hospital, the flagship of Raffles Medical Group, is a private hospital located that offers a wide range of specialist medical and diagnostic services with more than 30 disciplines for both inpatients and outpatients.
Raffles Medical Group is also the first Asian member of the Mayo Clinic Care Network
Countries with Raffles Medical Facilities
- Singapore
- China
- Japan
- Vietnam
- Cambodia
Countries with Raffles Medical Representative Offices
- Indonesia
- Vietnam
- Cambodia
- Brunei
- Bangladesh
- Russian Far East
- Asia-Pacific region
Service Provided by Raffles Medical
- Raffles Medical
- Raffles Hospital
- Raffles Dental
- Raffles Health Insurance
1. Debt To Equity Ratio (D/E)
Check for: Less than 0.5 D/E Ratio
Looking at the latest annual report.
Raffles Medical Group have a D/E ratio of 0.068.
This is lower than the 0.5 D/E Ratio.
A D/E ratio of less than 0.5 will means that the company is not overleverage.
With a D/E of less than 0.1, I think it is pretty healthy.
To understand this stock batter, I’ve done a quick look at the past Debt to Equity Ratio for Raffles Medical:
| Year | Debt to Equity (D/E) Ratio |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 0.068 |
| 2024 | 0.080 |
| 2023 | 0.076 |
| 2022 | 0.095 |
| 2021 | 0.190 |
| 2020 | 0.228 |
| 2019 | 0.238 |
| 2018 | 0.108 |
It seems to me that the D/E ratio is quite consistent and has been <0.5 for the past 5 years.
With a consistent low D/E the company has a low risk of the company defaulting.
My Opinion: Pass
2. Dividend Yield
Check for: More than a 2.5% dividend yield
Raffles Medical Group pays a dividend yield of 2.510%.
This is slightly higher than my target of 2.5%.
Looking at the distribution history, there is not much fluctuation in its dividend for the past few years.
| Year | Dividend (TTM) SGD |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 0.025 |
| 2024 | 0.024 |
| 2023 | 0.038 |
| 2022 | 0.028 |
| 2021 | 0.02 |
| 2020 | 0.025 |
| 2019 | 0.025 |
| 2018 | 0.023 |
For dividend stocks, I’ll prefer to increase their dividend distribution year-on-year. But looking here, Raffles Medical’s dividend basically varied between 0.02 to 0.04.
However, since the dividend yield is higher than the risk-free rate (CPF OA Account) of 2.5%. I will give it a verdict of pass.
My Opinion: Pass
3. Dividend Payout Ratio
Check for: Less than 80% dividend payout ratio
At the time of writing, a quick check using some of my favorite online stocks info tools shows that the dividend payout ratio for Raffles Medical Group is 72.89% which is below my threshold of 80%.
We love to see a payout ratio of less than 100% because it will mean that the company is using its earnings to pay its shareholder dividend.
I personally think a payout ratio while is below 80%, it is still rather high, I will very much prefer a payout ration of less than 50% to be called as potential great dividend stock.
My Opinion: Partially Pass
4. EPS Growth Rate
Check for: More than 10% EPS Growth
Here, we will like to see an EPS growth of 5 years or more.
A quick check on its financial data online.
The EPS 5 year growth rate is 0.507%.
Ouch! The EPS growth for Raffles Medical Group is really low.
This means, either the company is doing just ok, or decisions made by the management is just helping to keep the company afloat providing little contribution to the shareholder’s value.
My Opinion: Fail
5. High Return Of Equity (ROE)
Check for: More than 10% ROE
ROE is one of the most important ratios used by Warren Buffett.
Return on Equity is used to measure the management’s ability to make a return on our investment.
At the time of writing, the ROE of Raffles Medical Group have an ROE of 5.99%.
A deep dive into the history shows that Raffles Medical Group shows that, it usually has an ROE of 7% to 10%.
| Year | Return on Equity (ROE) |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 5.9% |
| 2024 | 9.0% |
| 2023 | 14.8% |
| 2022 | 9.1% |
| 2021 | 8.9% |
| 2020 | 7.6% |
| 2019 | 7.3% |
| 2018 | 9.3% |
ROE is on the low side, while it is still positive it is still lower than my requirement of 10% ROE.
My Opinion: Fail
6. Price-To-Book Ratio (P/B)
Check for: a P/B Ratio of less than 1.8
Raffles Medical Group is one of the biggest players in private healthcare.
With so much attention on Raffles Medical, the price of the stock will most likely be traded above its valuation (book value).
At the time of writing, the current P/B ratio of Raffles Medical Group is 1.804.
Meaning, it is trading at around 1.8 times its book value, which is quite reasonable. But slightly over than my criteria.
My Opinion: Fail
7. Economic MOAT
Check for: Not just having a MOAT, but a great MOAT
Raffles Medical Group is the leading private healthcare service provider in Singapore that provides world-class healthcare services to its patients, but it does have a lot of competitors who are also in the space of private healthcare services.
List of Healthcare Services with a Market Cap Above $100 Million:
- Healthway Med (HEMC.SI)
- ISEC (ISEC.SI)
- Medtecs Intl (MTCS.SI)
- OUE Lippo HC (OUEL.SI)
- Q&M Dental (QMDT.SI)
- Raffles Medical (RAFG.SI)
- Riverstone (RVHL.SI)
- Singapore O&G (SINP.SI)
- SingMedical (SMGL.SI)
- TalkMed (TALK.SI)
- Thomson Medical (THOS.SI)
- UGHealthcare (UGHE.SI)
- Vicplas Intl (VICP.SI)
Nonetheless, Raffles Medical Group is known for its quality of service as well as the quality of healthcare.
According to Phil’s book Rule#1 investing, Raffles Medical Group has the “Brand MOAT”.
Brand MOAT can be an attractive MOAT, especially in a space where life and death matter. It allows you to price your product higher than your competitors while still being able to win the business.
But in my opinion, Raffles Medical Group’s Brand MOAT is not strong.
My Opinion: Partially Pass
My Final Verdict: Raffles Medical Group
Below is how I’ve scored Raffles Medical Group.
| Metrics | Weightage | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Debt to Equity Ratio | High (2) | 2 |
| Dividend Yield | Low (1) | 0.5 |
| Dividend payout ratio | Low (1) | 0.5 |
| EPS Growth Rate | Low (1) | 0 |
| High Return of Equity (ROE) | Low (1) | 0 |
| Acceptable Price-to-Book Ratio | Low (1) | 0.5 |
| MOAT | Very High (3) | 1 |
| Total | NA | 4.5 |
Raffles Medical Group has a final score of 4.5/10.
With a good Debt to Equity ratio, I it to be quite ok, but with low ROE and EPS Growth rate, I don’t really like what I see. Also, considering that it don’t have a very strong MOAT, personally, I think I’ll KIV this stock.
Why do I find some metrics more important than others?
There are 3 attributes in a company that Warren Buffett wants in particular:
- Wonderful Company at Fair Price
- Stable & Understandable Business
- Vigilant Leadership in Risk Management
This translate to the following 3 metrics I have on my list:
Thus, for these metrics, I will put a higher weightage on my scoring.
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Antony C. is a Singaporean dividend investor focused on building passive income through REITs, ETFs, and Dividend Stocks. With 15+ years of experience investing in Singapore, Hong Kong, and China markets, he founded IncomeBuddies.com to share practical wealth-building strategies tested in his own portfolio since 2008. His expertise has been featured in Yahoo Finance, Nasdaq, and NFAA, and he’s the published book author of "Start Small, Dream Big".