Agfa-Gevaert announced its second quarter results. Mainly due to currency effects, Group sales declined 8.1 percent to 777 million Euro. In local currency, the decline was limited to 2.6 percent. Agfa Graphics' sales slightly decreased (in local currency), whereas Agfa HealthCare's competitive position suffered from the strong Euro. Currency effects had a strong impact on Agfa HealthCare's sales figures. In local currency, sales decreased 8.4 percent (14.3 percent including currency effects) to 313 million Euro. The decrease is mainly attributable to North America and the UK (where a large part of the important NHS contract was booked in 2007). In these regions, the strong Euro affected Agfa HealthCare's competitive position and the market-driven decline in the X-ray business is more outspoken and not compensated by healthcare IT. The Computed Radiography segment performed well in the second quarter, whereas the Imaging IT segment started to recover following the weak performance in the first three months of the year.
For the second consecutive quarter, Agfa HealthCare succeeded in substantially lowering its SG&A expenses by almost 20 percent. These expenses represented 24.9 percent of sales, compared to 26.3 percent in the second quarter of 2007. However, these efforts did not suffice to offset the weaker sales and adverse mix effects. The high silver price also had a strong impact on HealthCare's profitability, as approximately half of the business group's sales still comes from film products. The recurring EBITDA margin amounted to 11.0 percent of sales. Recurring EBIT was 19.5 million Euro, or 6.2 percent of sales.
In imaging, Agfa HealthCare is making progress with its strategy to be the partner of choice for care centers in developing markets. In Kazakhstan, Agfa HealthCare won a tender for the installation of over 30 35-X CR digitizers at regional hospitals across the country. Recently, the business group also won a large tender in Iraq for the delivery of X-ray film and chemicals to all civilian hospitals in the country.
The First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University selected Agfa HealthCare for the implementation of the second phase of its RIS/PACS program. The project will be an important showcase for RIS/PACS integration in China. In Australia, Agfa HealthCare completed the upgrade of the IMPAX PACS solution and the installation of new CR hardware systems at the prestigious Royal Prince Alfred Hospital.
In the second quarter, Agfa HealthCare also continued to expand its RIS/PACS solutions with additional features. For example, the business group will integrate the Radiology Decision Support solution STATdx from Amirsys with its IMPAX platform, giving radiologists all the tools to quickly provide diagnostic information and enhance patient care.
In Cardiology, Agfa HealthCare has signed an agreement with one of the largest hospital corporations in the US for the installation of an IMPAX Cardiovascular Information System at six of its facilities. Agfa HealthCare also introduced a new solution which allows clinicians to monitor coronary lesions more efficiently, showing all relevant data and images in one view. Integrated in the IMPAX Cardiovascular system, the solution will become available later this year.
In the field of enterprise-wide IT, Agfa HealthCare announced that the first installation of the ORBIS Care module in Belgium is a success. The Imelda Hospital in Bonheiden is the first Belgian ORBIS customer to implement the ORBIS Care solution. 800 nurses now use it to document their main nursing activities.
Related news articles:
- Agfa HealthCare Profile
About Agfa
The Agfa-Gevaert Group is one of the world's leading imaging and information technology companies. Agfa develops, manufactures and markets analogue and digital systems for the printing industry (Agfa Graphics), the healthcare sector (Agfa HealthCare) and specific industrial applications (Agfa Materials). Agfa's headquarters are in Mortsel, Belgium. The company is present in 40 countries and has agents in another 100 countries throughout the world. The Agfa-Gevaert Group achieved a turnover of 3,283 million Euro in 2007.
About Agfa HealthCare
Agfa HealthCare, a member of the Agfa-Gevaert Group, is a leading provider of IT-enabled clinical workflow and diagnostic image management solutions, and state-of-the-art systems for capturing and processing images in hospitals and healthcare facilities. Agfa HealthCare has over a century of healthcare experience related to diagnostic imaging and has been a pioneer on the healthcare IT market since the early 1990's. The HealthCare division has sales offices and agents in over 100 markets worldwide. Sales for Agfa HealthCare in 2007 were 1,392 million Euro, accounting for 43% of total group sales. For more information on Agfa HealthCare, please visit www.agfa.com/healthcare.