New Silkroutes Group on Wednesday said its unit Healthsciences International acquired 70 percent stakes in three dental clinics in Singapore for S$3.2 million to expand its healthcare business.
New Silkroutes Group, which owns a near 69 percent stake in Healthsciences International, said the proposed acquisition will reinforce the company's earnings base, strengthen the group's operations and financial position, and enhance the long-term interests of shareholders.
The three clinics under the proposed acquisition operate under The Dental Hub brand and are located at Bedok North Street 4, PSA Building at Alexandra Road, and Yew Tee Point at Choa Chu Kang. Collectively, they generated about S$2.7 million in revenue and S$0.5 million in earnings for their previous financial year.
The acquisition is expected to be completed by October 30 , boosting Healthsciences International's network to nine dental clinics and two dental supplies companies.
In a separate statement, the independent external auditor of the New Silkroutes Group said they were unable to find any prepayments made by the company's units to a supplier.
The issue pertains to prepayments of US$500,494 and US$4,400,000 made by the subsidiaries, Top Post Enterprises and Baling (China) Investment, respectively during the financial year ended June 30, 2017 for the purchase of iron ore fines.
"We were unable to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence on the recoverability or utilisation of the prepayments to the supplier," said auditor Foo Kon Tan in a report released on the Singapore Exchange on Tuesday.
Shares in New Silkroutes Group climbed 6.3 percent to S$0.42 on the Singapore Exchange The stock has lost about 38 percent so far this year.
