As it enters the second year of its five-year strategic business plan, TDM said in a statement that it intends to capitalise on favourable macro-economic trends in both the plantation and healthcare industries to expand and “unlock value from existing assets”.

TDM chairman Raja Idris Raja Kamarudin said the company had benefited from the rise in the average selling price of crude palm oil (CPO) from RM2,822 per tonne in 2020 to RM4,447 per tonne in 2021.

He said TDM’s healthcare segment has been positioned to leverage on opportunities to acquire existing hospitals and to develop new healthcare facilities to expand its operations.

He cited the example of Tawau Specialist Hospital, renamed KMI Tawau Medical Centre post acquisition, and the company’s plans to provide a network of specialist hospitals serving communities across the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia.

Idris said that among TDM’s new ventures is a specialist hospital with a capacity of 100 beds in Kemaman, Terengganu, which is expected to begin operations next year.

“Apart from that, another hospital with a capacity of 94 beds will be built in Bandar Baru Tunjong, Kota Bharu, Kelantan,” he said.

TDM is also exploring potential collaborations with hospitals to create “centres of excellence”, apart from its ongoing services providing ambulatory care centres, he said.

TDM also plans to cultivate cash crops on its idle lands.

This venture will kick off with chilli cultivation on a five-acre plot that will be expanded to 200 acres by 2025.

Idris said the company is also looking to sell two loss-making Indonesian subsidiaries to raise RM115 million in cash, reduce borrowings and improve capital requirements.

For the financial year ended Dec 31, 2021, its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) for the plantation division jumped 96.5% to RM176.5 million while the healthcare segment reported an 80.2% increase in Ebitda to RM23.6 million.