KUALA LUMPUR (April 27): StemLife Bhd, the cord blood banker which withdrew its listing from the ACE market of Bursa Malaysia on Feb 22 after coming under the control of Singapore-listed Cordlife Group Ltd (CGL), says it is committed to expanding its business and service network in Malaysia.
 
At a media briefing today, chief executive officer Yap Eng Gee said the company is in the midst of accessing untapped markets, particularly in the eastern region, and will deploy its human resources to areas deemed to hold favourable potential.
 
However, she clarified business expansion in this context means setting up sales offices for the purpose of marketing existing and new products and services, instead of setting up new storage facilities.
 
StemLife’s sole storage facility is located at its Megan Avenue II head office in Kuala Lumpur.
 
“Our [goal] has always been the same — to expand our markets. In doing so, we are accessing the potentials of markets that we do not have presence in yet, before we step in, and will [deploy] our sales representatives to cover these areas,” Yap said.
 
StemLife currently offers end-to-end stem cell services, namely cord blood, tissue and lining banking, as well as non-invasive urine based metabolic screening, to about 200 private hospitals nationwide. Of that, about 50 have been noting recurring customers or patients.
 
Prior to de-listing, StemLife returned to the black for the second financial quarter ended Dec 31, 2016 (2QFY17) with a net profit of RM405,000, from a net loss of RM1.24 million a year earlier. Revenue rose 22.9% to RM5.97 million, from RM4.86 million in 2QFY16.

For the first half of financial year 2017 (1HFY17), StemLife’s net profit stood at RM1.44 million, up by over eight times, compared with RM175,000 for 1HFY16.

StemLife is now 99%-owned by CGL, which has presence in seven countries and over 180,000 cord blood units stored.