• Big Caring Group (BCG) is Malaysia's largest retail pharmacy chain, with 668 outlets under six brands, led by BIG Pharmacy and CARiNG Pharmacy, and the only chain present in all 13 states and three Federal Territories. It held a 24.2% share of the retail pharmacy market by revenue in 2025 and employs 715 licensed pharmacists, the most of any operator. Retail made up 92.9% of FY26 revenue.
• We project PATMI to grow at a 29.3% CAGR, reaching RM281.3m, RM350.0m and RM413.8m in FY27–FY29 respectively. This growth is underpinned by (i) the opening of 45 new outlets a year at 8.0% SSSG, both at the mid-point of management’s targets, (ii) a wider retail gross margin as procurement scale feeds through, and (iii) contributions from the newly acquired iCare outlets, 15% annual growth in e-commerce and corporate sales, and Medispec’s widening product range. The 12 outlets opened and 10 iCare outlets acquired since July 2026, together with 190 of 219 recent openings having already reached EBITDA breakeven, provide visibility on the roll-out.
• We assign a fair value of RM1.40 per share to BCG, indicating 29.6% upside from the IPO price of RM1.08. Our valuation applies a target P/E of 32.7x, in line with the peer average forward P/E, to mid-FY28 EPS of 4.28 sen.

Investment highlights

The national leader in a fragmented market. BCG is the clear number one in Malaysian retail pharmacy. As at 30 September 2026, 660 of its 668 outlets were licensed pharmacies, 16.5% of the national total of 4,002, and it employed 715 licensed pharmacists, more than double the next-largest chain on both counts (Alpro: 312 pharmacies; Health Lane: 354 pharmacists). Its 24.2% revenue share in 2025 compares with 5.4% for the next player and rises to 43.8% among organised chains. The runway to consolidate remains long. Organised chains account for only 51.9% of Malaysian pharmacy outlets, against 84.2% in Singapore, and Malaysia has 126 pharmacies per million people versus 162–665 in Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. Frost & Sullivan expects organised chain sales to grow at a 12.1% CAGR over 2025–2030F, ahead of the wider industry at 8.7%. With the widest footprint in the country and brands positioned for different catchments, we see BCG as the natural consolidator.

A repeatable roll-out engine, backed by M&A. BCG has grown from 179 outlets in July 2022 to 668, opening 235 outlets organically and acquiring 290, net of 36 closures. The organic model is well proven. A new outlet costs RM280,000–420,000 in capex, typically breaks even at EBITDA level within a year and pays back in two to three years. Of the 219 net new outlets opened over FY23–FY26, 190 had reached EBITDA breakeven, with the remaining 29 all opened in FY25–FY26. Existing stores keep growing as well, with same-store sales up 7.3%, 9.6% and 7.3% over FY24–FY26. Management targets 40–50 new outlets a year over the next three to five years and SSSG of 7.0–9.0% and has opened 12 outlets since July 2026. Acquisitions add a second lever. The Caring deal brought in 256 outlets and centralised purchasing, while the iCare Pharmacy purchase (10 outlets) and the pending acquisition of Singapore's Yeap Medical Supplies (YMS) show the pipeline remains active.

Scale is showing up in margins. The Caring acquisition gave BCG the volume to centralise purchasing across all its brands, and the benefit is now visible. Total income margin, which adds supplier rebates and promotional income to gross profit, widened to 33.7% in FY26 from 26.4% in FY24 as BCG secured better rebate terms and longer credit, with payable days rising to 80 from 65. EBITDA margin improved by 4.7ppts to 13.7% over the same period. Suppliers also pay for visibility in BCG's stores, with advertising and promotion income rising to RM123.9m in FY26 from RM58.8m in FY24. The product mix is improving too. Own-brand products made up 12.4% of FY26 retail revenue, with more than 1,000 own-brand SKUs in range and a pipeline of over 280 more. With 93.3% of outlets profitable at outlet EBITDA level in FY26, we expect further operating leverage as newer stores mature.

Vertical integration adds a higher-margin layer. BCG is the only organised pharmacy chain in Malaysia that also manufactures, imports and distributes healthcare and pharmaceutical products. Yanling (manufacturing, acquired in 2023) and Medispec (import and distribution, acquired in 2025) lifted the others segment to 7.1% of FY26 revenue but 12.5% of gross profit, at a 53.2% gross margin against 28.4% for retail. Yanling makes BCG's own-brand products in-house, with 41.4% of its FY26 revenue coming from the Group, and has spare capacity, with four of its six lines running at 45–66% utilisation. Medispec distributes 496 registered products to more than 7,200 distribution points, including hospitals and clinics, and aims to exceed 600 products within three years. Digital health is a further lever. Transactions on the MyHA tele-consultation and e-prescription platform rose to c.125,000 a month in FY26 from c.25,000 in FY25, with a target of 180,000 by end-2027, and those prescriptions are fulfilled through BCG's outlets.