AI assistant
PRO MEDICUS LIMITED — Earnings Release 2008
Aug 25, 2008
65579_rns_2008-08-25_bc51d049-8649-4ec1-b265-b90bd1aa808a.pdf
Earnings Release
Open in viewerOpens in your device viewer
450 Swan Street, Richmond, Victoria 3121, Australia
Telephone (03) 9429 8800 Facsimile (03) 9429 9455
Company Announcement
Pro Medicus announces record net profit of $7.93 million - an increase of 12.5%
Highlights:
-
Net profit of $7.9 million – up 12.5%
-
Most profitable year in company’s history
-
Record revenue of $15.34 million – up 17.8%
-
3.25c per share dividend
-
Cash reserves increase 16% to $12.9 million
-
Company remains debt-free
-
promedicus.net carried 3.52 million transactions during year
Tuesday 26 August 2008
Australia’s leading medical IT and e-health provider Pro Medicus Limited [ASX: PME] today announced an after-tax profit of $7.9 million for the 2007-2008 financial year, 12.5% higher than the previous year. The result is a record net profit for the company.
Revenue for the year was a record $15.34 million, an increase of 17.8%. Revenue from the company’s Australian operations increased by 33.1% to $12.51 million.
The Pro Medicus board declared a dividend of 3.25 cents per share, fully franked.
Pro Medicus continued its 25-year history of a strong balance sheet with cash reserves of $12.9 million. The company continues to be debt free. Directors are confident the reserve cash holdings are sufficient to underpin the expansion and development plans of the company.
Pro Medicus CEO David Chambers said: “Our business has a solid basis in Australia, with continuing growth in digital imaging and integration technologies.
Leaders in e-health and Imaging Pro Medicus Limited ACN 006 194 752
ABN 25 006 194 752
Overseas, our footprint is now well established in US, Canada and UK. We are confident that our strong balance sheet and no debt will allow us to realize the compelling vision we have for our future.”
During the year the company’s e-health offering – promedicus.net – continued its growth, both in terms of the number of doctors registered as well as transaction volumes. The year saw a 10% increase (to 28,000) in the number of doctors registered as users of promedicus.net.
The network carried 3.52 million transactions for the year, a 10% increase on the previous year. It remains the delivery system of choice for diagnostic imaging results.
More that 125 practices now use Pro Medicus’ digital technology, up from 40 sites last year and 80 sites mid-year. The company has had increasing success in the important hospital market, with St Vincent’s Private Hospital and Mater Private Hospital among the hospitals which signed up to Pro Medicus’ digital imaging during the year.
Mr Chambers said: “We have always said we’d reach a tipping point for digital when imaging centres came to understand that the automation our digital product provides can deliver significant productivity gains. More radiology practices have now seen the tangible benefits that can be realised and better understand the resulting improvements in efficiency and how that can help them manage and grow their practices. We don’t feel we’ve exhausted the potential in the Australian market. As our penetration of the market increases, momentum will need to shift to other products, other segments and other markets.”
During the year North American sales were $2.19 million, compared to $3.09 million in 2006-2007.
Mr Chambers said: “There is no doubt we were affected by the increasing strength of the Australian dollar, the “tail off” of the Agfa contract, and the skewing effect of the one-off Alta PACS (Canadian radiology IT services company) project the previous year.”
Last month Pro Medicus announced it had signed a new agreement with AgfaGevaert in North America. Under the agreement Pro Medicus, using the Agfa sales force as a conduit, will sell its products directly to end users under its own brand name, rather than solely under the Agfa label. Pro Medicus will also be able to expand its offering into new markets – like orthopaedics and cardiology – where its technology is applicable.
Mr Chambers said the agreement was low-risk, and described it as a “preemptive move aimed at gaining greater control over our own destiny.”
“We have acquired a lot of knowledge about the US market over the last three years, which will stand us in good stead. We are not going in unsupported, as we
Leaders in e-health and Imaging Pro Medicus Limited ACN 006 194 752 ABN 25 006 194 752
will still be working closely with Agfa, using its sales channels, some of its facilities, and various forms of infrastructure support.
“We are now in a transition period as we implement our new business model, but there are new projects in our sales funnel and we would expect momentum to pick up over the next 12 to 18 months. Taking control of our North American sales effort means that we will be getting a full mark-up on our software rather than sharing it with Agfa. We will also receive ongoing service revenue directly.”
Pro Medicus will continue to invest in research and development, looking to add new products and technologies, break into new market segments, and increase growth in markets like the United Kingdom and Asia-Pacific.
For further information:
David Chambers Dr Sam Hupert Chief Executive Officer Executive Director Pro Medicus Limited Pro Medicus Limited Ph: +61 3 9429 8800 Ph: +61 3 9429 8800
Richard Allen Oxygen Financial PR Ph: +61 3 9915 6341
About Pro Medicus Limited
Pro Medicus Limited [ASX: PME] is Australia’s leading medical IT and e-health provider. Founded in 1983, the company provides a full range of integrated software products and services to individual, corporate and public health providers. More than 26,000 doctors are now connected to the company’s e-health service, promedicus.net, with the number of transactions across the network between general practitioners and specialists growing accordingly. A key growth area for the company is the adoption of its digital technology by radiology providers as they move away from analogue systems. An increasing number of Australian practices are taking up Pro Medicus’ digital technology and the company is now also making substantial inroads into the North American market. In late 2004, the company signed a watershed three-year $10 million deal with Agfa North America to exclusively license the Pro Medicus Practice Management and digital radiology software products for the large and rapidly growing private imaging centre market in the US and Canada. It subsequently announced a $2.6 million contract with a large Canadian radiology group which was completed in 2005. In 2007 and 2008 Pro Medicus has achieved the predicted growth in the take up of its digital integration in the Australian private market, steady growth in its e-health offering, as well as recording ongoing growth in its export sales.
Leaders in e-health and Imaging Pro Medicus Limited ACN 006 194 752 ABN 25 006 194 752