Health Sulaiman Al Habib secures $347m loan for Saudi expansion By Pramod Kumar October 1, 2024, 5:45 AM HMG/X Dr. Sulaiman Al Habib's second-quarter net earnings rose 14 percent year on year to SAR555 million Dr. Sulaiman Al Habib Medical Services Group Company has secured long-term financing to expand across Saudi Arabia amid growing competition for healthcare services in the kingdom. The company, which trades on the Saudi stock exchange, has signed a sharia-compliant credit facility worth SAR1.3 billion ($347 million) with Al Rajhi Bank, a Saudi-listed lender. The 13-year-long facility will finance projects, such as Sehat Al Hamra Hospital, Women’s Health Hospital, Sehat Alkharj Hospital, and the medical centers affiliated with Al Marakez Al Awwalyah for Healthcare Company. The company’s second-quarter net earnings rose 14 percent year on year to SAR555 million as revenue increased 13 percent annually to SAR2.6 billion. Healthcare spending in Saudi Arabia is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of nearly 5 percent up to 2027, reaching $77 billion, Sulaiman Al Habib said in its 2023 board report, citing Alpen Capital data. PIF unit leads fundraising for Saudi healthcare fund Healthcare group Fakeeh attracts orders of $91bn for Saudi IPO Saudi’s Care buys Jeddah hospital for $52m This week, UAE-based hospital chain Aster DM Healthcare’s Gulf unit said it is exploring acquisitions worth $250 million to expand its presence in the kingdom. The company intends to have more than 1,000 hospital beds, 180 pharmacies and more than two dozen medical centres across Saudi Arabia in the next three to five years. In May, Jada Fund of Funds, wholly owned by the sovereign Public Investment Fund, led the SAR920 million fundraising round in a fund which aims to invest in major healthcare companies in the kingdom. Saudi Arabia has allocated SAR214 billion for the health and social development sector in 2024, with $13 billion worth of projects that will create 224 primary healthcare centres and add 20,000 hospital beds by 2030.