Key Takeaways:
- Gross margins have been falling at 160 Health, which gets more than 60% of its revenue from wholesaling medical and health supplies
- The online healthcare service provider is still in the red but rising revenues and cost-cutting measures have helped to narrow its losses
By Li Shi Ta
Digital healthcare has been booming in China, offering a remedy for some of the deep-rooted maladies of the country’s medical system.
Online platforms connecting patients with medical services or products can help to alleviate the uneven distribution and the limited supply of quality provision that plague the Chinese healthcare system.
And the government’s plan to boost the population’s health by 2030 has the potential to generate even more business for market leaders in digital healthcare such as 160 Health International Ltd..
Seeking capital to ride an anticipated wave of demand, 160 Health became the latest company in the sector to file for a Hong Kong share listing on Dec. 15, following in the footsteps of ClouDr Group Ltd. (9955.HK) and Medlive Technology Co., Ltd. (2192.HK).
The IPO candidate will be hoping that the rapid growth of digital healthcare will be a draw for investors.
China’s digital healthcare industry grew from 28.9 billion yuan ($4.05 billion) in 2017 to 135.2 billion yuan in 2022, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 36.2% during the period, according to a Frost & Sullivan study. The market is predicted to reach 1.4 trillion yuan in 2030, marking a CAGR of 33.9% from 2022.
The 160 Health platform connects healthcare organizations, medical professionals, individual users and third-party suppliers. According to the listing application, the company ranked as China’s biggest platform for integrated digital healthcare services in 2022 by number of registrations and partner hospitals.
The company ...