Agfa-Gevaert today announced its third quarter results. Including currency effects, Group sales declined 6.0 percent to 741 million Euro. Excluding currency effects, the decline was limited to 1.7 percent. The effects of the deteriorating economic conditions became more visible, both in Agfa Graphics and Agfa HealthCare. Excluding currency effects, sales decreased 4.2 percent to 291 million Euro, which is slightly less pronounced than in the previous quarters. Including currency effects, the decrease amounted to 8.8 percent. As some hospitals are postponing their investments, the economic slowdown is weighing on the business group's sales figures, mainly on IT sales. The strong Euro also continued to affect HealthCare's competitive position in North America and the UK. In Imaging, the traditional film segment continued its market-driven decline, whereas the hardcopy segment performed well in the third quarter. When comparing the Imaging IT sales figures (Radiology Information Systems-Picture Archiving and Communication Systems - RIS/PACS) with those of last year's third quarter, it should be taken into account that a significant part of the revenues from the important contract with the British NHS organisation was booked in 2007.
Agfa HealthCare was able to further reduce its SG&A expenses by 18.2 percent compared to the third quarter of 2007, but further efforts will be implemented to bring these costs to a more competitive level. On top of the weaker sales, the business groups profitability was affected by the high silver costs, as approximately half of HealthCare's sales still comes from film products. Recurring EBITDA amounted to 21.0 million Euro (or 7.2 percent of sales). Recurring EBIT was 7.0 million Euro, or 2.4 percent of sales.
In the third quarter, the business group continued to strengthen its management team with the signing of Dr. Volker Wetekam as its new Executive Vice President for its global HealthCare IT division.
In imaging, Premier Purchasing Partners awarded Agfa HealthCare a new threeyear contract for film and medical imagers. The contract allows Agfa HealthCare to provide diagnostic film, media and medical imagers to Premier's 2,000 member hospitals and 53,000 other healthcare sites in the United States.
Agfa HealthCare again expanded its RIS/PACS solutions with additional features. The business group signed an agreement to integrate Meridian Technique's OrthoView tool into its IMPAX for Orthopaedics solution. OrthoView is a leading digital planning solution, allowing orthopaedic surgeons to pre-operatively plan surgical procedures on-screen.
In the field of enterprise-wide IT, the Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris (APHP) hospital network selected Agfa HealthCare as its partner for one of the largest European health information projects to date. Supported by a consortium of companies, Agfa HealthCare will install its leading Clinical Information System, ORBIS, at the networks 37 hospitals. The first effects on HealthCare's sales should become visible in the course of 2009. Given APHPs strong reputation and the complexity and scope of the project, this contract could become a key lever for future success in healthcare IT.
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.