Speaking at a roadshow at the Stock Exchange of Thailand yesterday, Amnaj said that thanks to the trust the hospital had gained from its patients over the past 10 years, he was confident EKH would continue to grow solidly. The 86-bed hospital’s revenue has grown by an average of 9.79 per cent annually during the last three years, from Bt363.85 million in 2013 to Bt438.61 million last year. It booked 21.56-per-cent growth in the first quarter of this year. Net profit increased from Bt30.64 million in 2013 to Bt32.21 million in 2014, and to Bt48.57 million last year. For the first quarter of 2016, net profit jumped to Bt17.67 million, from Bt6.88 million a year earlier.

Amnaj explained that EKH had to reduce its registered capital to write off accumulated losses in 2015 due to losses from providing services to patients covered under the government’s Social Security Fund, which it decided to quit in 2011.

EKH had incurred a loss in each of the years that it was part of the Social Security scheme because the hospital, which was founded by a group of medical personnel and prominent businesspeople in Samut Sakhon province, decided not to compromise its ethical standards to provide different treatments to Social Security patients, he said.

“Ethics is the big thing. We don’t use money [concerns] to set the rules and criteria in taking care of our patients. Doing business without taking advantage of others is more sustainable,” said Amnaj, an obstetrician by profession. The first quarter’s spectacular profit growth did not come from raising any service fees. EKH, in fact, has not increased its treatment rates for a few years.

“We still have room to increase our margin, since there are still price gaps as we’re selling [our services] at lower prices than other hospitals. But any price increase has to be justified,” said the hospital director.

Somphob Keerasuntonpong, president of Finansia Syrus Securities, financial adviser and lead arranger of EKH’s initial public offering, said the IPO price would be finalised next Wednesday, the same day that it would sign agreements to appoint underwriters and arrangers of the stocks.

Six brokerage houses suggest Bt4-Bt4.5 as target prices of the EKH stocks, reflecting a forward price-to-earnings ratio of about 40 times. The average P/E ratio of listed hospital companies is currently 43 times.

Funds raised from the IPO will be used to build a new children’s hospital building in the same area of the existing hospital, as well as for renovating the existing hospital and parking facilities, and for working capital. The 50-bed children’s hospital building will require an investment of Bt200 million and will be completed in early 2019.

EKH makes about half of its revenue from contractual clients that include life insurers, corporates and government agencies, and the other half from general patients.

By department, the emergency centre contributed 32.73 per cent of total revenue last year, followed by the paediatrics and obstetrics and gynaecology centres, which provided a combined 23.51-per-cent share, and the general-medicine clinic at 18.23 per cent.

EKH will float 166.8 million shares at Bt0.50 par value, accounting for 27.8 per cent of the total stocks after the IPO. Of the total amount, 10 million stocks will be allocated to directors, management and staff of the hospital.

According to the first Thailand hotel industry report by Grant Thornton in Thailand, 89 per cent of Thai hotels see technology and digital strategies as important, whilst almost 2 of 3 have a digital strategy linked to the overall business plan. Although 91 per cent have confidence in their IT security and privacy, nearly half agree that it is a big concern and hampers further investment. There is also reluctance due to whether or not a fair return on investment can be achieved and how staff capabilities will measure up to the new technology.

“Hotels need to fully integrate their digital strategy and technological improvements into their overall strategic plan. We all have a lot of information about our customers now but the key is having the technology to support the use of that information,” said Andrew McBean, Partner at Grant Thornton and expert in technology, media and telecommunications.

The survey, conducted durign April and May, covered chief executive officers, managing directors, general managers or other senior executives of 66 properties with 4 and 5 star in Thailand.

“The power of technology is phenomenal. There are many new trends available for us to consider, especially in social media. Hotels need to make sure their social media and digital strategy are strongly linked with their business strategy. They need to fully integrate their digital strategy and technological improvements into their overall strategic plan. And hotels need to invest effectively in technology in order to not only attract more customers but to personalise guest experiences.”

Results also show that investment in technology and digital strategy for budgets up to the end of 2016 is still growing among most Thailand properties. 73 per cent are investing more in 2016 than they did in 2015. 56 per cent have their own resource to manage technology and digital strategy, and 35 per cent use both in-house/HQ staff and outsourced vendors. Only 10 per cent were not confident in their digital strategy and these hotels were not part of global chains.

Many were worried about achieving a fair return on their technology investment, with 2 in 3 sharing this opinion. Other concerns included staff having the skills to utilise the technology being introduced. 51 per cent voiced this as a concern with another 48 per cent worried about guest privacy and confidentiality. A mix of slow response times for investment from owners, as well as a fear that the chosen technology would become outdated or more expensive once implemented were of concern, but time is of the essence and those who don’t invest wisely and with some haste may lose opportunities.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is aiming for 12 per cent growth in tourism revenue, bringing it to 2.89 trillion baht in 2017. This is in part due to the economic recovery but also the effective cooperation among tourism-related agencies and private operators.

Hoteliers who can deliver great guest experiences by balancing technology and human touch should see a very positive ROI, the study said.

Michael Marshall, Chief Commercial Officer at Minor Hotel Group, commented, “If used correctly social media will drive revenue. It has also become a big search engine so hotels need to ensure they are maximising all of these platforms. It’s a very easy tool to use and it’s very cost effective, which can be a big concern when digital strategies are being considered. New technologies are appearing every day, just look at Airbnb and how quickly that grew and continues to grow. Voice recognition is also becoming a more valuable tool. We need to be working with all this new technology rather than ignoring it.”

Aline Massart, regional director of Digital Marketing for Accor Hotels, commented, “Hotels started out creating a product and brand but sites like Airbnb allow people to experience a dream by playing to their emotions. Hoteliers need to shift from the product and brand thought process to be more about the customer concept and be at each step of the customer journey. Only 20 per cent of people will mention the hotel name on social media but by using digital tools, such as Local Measure, to tap into that other 80 per cent, hoteliers can create emotion and personalise a customers stay making them feel valued and recognised.”

Debrah Pascoe, senior vice president of Commercial at Onyx Hospitality Group, said that the group is continuously evolving their digital strategy in order to engage customers, expand their reach to new and untapped markets, and showcase products in an engaging and compelling manner. Technology is used to personalise services and inspire repeat business.