Republic Healthcare (08357.HK) announced that the group is expected to record a profit reduction of more than 90% in the three months ended March 31, compared with a net profit of S $95000 in the same period last year. The decrease in net profit was mainly due to an increase of more than 8% in employee welfare expenditure due to the Group's efforts to retain and attract talent for its expansion programme, and an increase of more than 69% in other operating expenses, including increased marketing expenditure mainly due to more promotional activities to increase revenue, as well as increased expenditure due to the increase in the number of general practice treatment centres (from seven to three more).