Meta Health Appoints Dr Bernard Ng as Chairman of the Board and Group CEO
● The management reshuffle comes at a pivotal stage of transformation as the Group endeavors to look beyond metal manufacturing and explore opportunities in the digital healthcare sector and to drive next phase of growth
SINGAPORE - Media OutReach - 6 June 2022 - Meta Health Limited (“META” or the “Company”, and together with its subsidiaries, the “Group”) is pleased to announce a strategic restructuring of its management team as it endeavors to diversify and expand into the digital healthcare industry. Executive Director of 5Digital Pte Ltd (a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company) (“5Digital”), Dr Bernard Ng, will be re-designated to the role of Chairman and Group CEO, where he will oversee the Group’s pivot to the digital healthcare space. This new appointment will allow the current Chairman and CEO, Mr Chua Kheng Choon, to transition into the role of SVP of Engineering, where he will continue to head the operations for the metal engineering business of the Group. Both Dr Ng and Mr Chua will assume their new roles with effect from 7 June 2022.
Dr Ng brings over 20 years of professional experience in the pharmaceutical and consumer health industries to his appointment as Chairman and Group CEO. He obtained his medical degree from the National University of Malaysia in 1999 and his MBA from the University of Melbourne in 2011. Prior to joining the Group, Dr Ng served as Chief Medical Officer, Head of Global Medical and Clinical Affairs at Bayer Consumer Healthcare.
He is a strong believer of digital transformation and spends his time plugged into start-ups that are pioneering technology with the potential to create significant value for medical professionals and their patients. As Group CEO, he will leverage his expertise of medicine and digital transformation to lead META’s pivot into the consumer health industry.
As one of the founders of META, Mr Chua has accumulated over 35 years of experience in the precision metal stamping industry. Under his leadership, the Company has grown steadily from its inception as a stamping contractor to its position as a one-stop provider for mechanical manufacturing products and services. Thanks to Mr Chua’s on-going efforts and guidance, revenue from the metal stamping business rebounded strongly in FY2021, growing 29% y-o-y to S$41.7m and returning to profitability last year. As Mr Chua moves into his new role, he will continue to focus on delivering quality engineering solutions and growing the customer base of the Group’s metal engineering business.
META has deepened its presence in the digital health enabled services in the last year. The anchor investment started with acquisition of an 85.07% stake in Gainhealth Pte Ltd.(“Gainhealth”), bringing primary care and central pharmacy services together with both online and offline sales channels. META also announced a conditional sale and purchase agreement with PT Gaido Digital Medika (“PT GDM”) and a share subscription agreement to take up to 10% stake in MedTel Healthcare Private Limited (“MedTel”). These strategic investments complement the Group’s vision of becoming a leading healthcare services company in Southeast Asia, providing personalized healthcare within a hand-picked ecosystem of online and offline care providers and e-pharmacies, while leveraging on the most up-to-date insights from research and data. The launch of “Digital Hospital” in Indonesia, a trademarked product by PT GDM, has gained significant traction. In an announcement by the G20 business council, Digital Hospital has been identified as a partner of the Indonesian Tourism Medical Association in early March 2022[1].
The new personnel changes will enable the Group to advance its strategic focus on digital healthcare and become the sector’s preferred solutions provider. Dr Ng will work alongside industry veteran and Chief Medical Officer of 5Digital, Dr Vas Metupalle, a healthcare entrepreneur with 17 years of experience under his belt. Having previously founded companies in the Teleradiology (Clarity) and Telemedicine (MyDoc) space, Dr Metupalle has vast regional experience in implementing diagnostic and outpatient healthcare services for corporate health and insurance industry partners. Together, Dr Ng and Dr Metupalle make up a strong team of medical experts who will lay the foundation of META’s further exploration efforts in the field.
Dr Bernard Ng said: “It is a great privilege for me to lead META and I would like to thank the Board of Directors for their trust. I look forward to working alongside the management team to explore new streams of business development opportunities and conducting a strategic review of existing businesses, and the implementation thereof, with a view to create value for shareholders. The Group will also look into accelerating our revenue and profit growth targets through strategic acquisitions and scaling of our current activities.”
About Meta Health Limited
Meta Health Limited (META), formerly known as Metal Component Engineering Limited, was founded in 1987 in Singapore. With consistent focus on quality and engineering innovation, META has expanded its customer base by serving MNC (Multi-National-Corporation), EMS (Electronic Manufacturing Services), and SME (Small-Medium-Enterprise) globally. META has recently diversified into healthcare technology and services with investment into Gainhealth Pte. Ltd., a direct-to-consumer and high-growth omnichannel health and wellness platform. META is vertically integrated with licensed clinics with pharmacy, online self-branded ecommerce portals, and product placements on regional e-commerce portals.
For more information, visit https://metahealth.sg, www.5digital.com.sg and www.gainhealthclinic.com
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Disclaimer
This press release has been prepared by Meta Health Limited (“Company”) and its contents have been reviewed by the Company's sponsor, ZICO Capital Pte. Ltd. (“Sponsor”), in accordance with Rule 226(2)(b) of the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited (“SGX-ST”) Listing Manual Section B: Rules of Catalist.
This press release has not been examined or approved by the SGX-ST and the SGX-ST assumes no responsibility for the contents of this press release, including the correctness of any of the statements or opinions made or reports contained in this press release.
The contact person for the Sponsor is Mr Alex Tan, Chief Executive Officer, ZICO Capital Pte. Ltd. at 77 Robinson Road, #06-03 Robinson 77, Singapore 068896, telephone (65) 6636 4201.
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