KUALA LUMPUR (March 13): The future growth outlook for Malaysia’s healthcare sector stays promising in 2025, with investors’ continued appetite for good-quality healthcare assets remaining intact, said RHB Investment Bank Bhd. 

The investment bank said this sustained demand from investors would be driven by a permanent, structural shift due to the country’s ageing population.

It further said that the government’s recent initiatives in setting up national health insurance and takaful products represent more sustainable measures in ensuring equitable access to public and private healthcare.

“Such mechanisms are similar to Singapore’s MediSave, where income earners are mandated to contribute a portion of their salary to a pool of funds (managed by a government-owned entity), and the savings can be used for medical treatment when needed,” it said in a research note on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the bank said that the regulatory overhang arising from the diagnosis-related group (DRG) pricing mechanism could affect investor sentiment in the near-term.

“Ultimately, we believe the implementation of the DRG pricing mechanism still requires extensive study and engagement with various stakeholders, given the complexity of each medical procedure and its underlying costs,” it said.

The bank switched its sector top pick to KPJ Healthcare Bhd (KL:KPJ), as it favoured domestic-centric names, since healthcare players with significant overseas exposure may still face headwinds — predominantly from inflationary and geopolitical uncertainties. 

RHB Investment Bank maintained an “overweight” rating on the country’s healthcare sector.

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