The business group's sales decreased by 5.8 percent to 295 million Euro. Mainly in the USA and in certain European countries, the economic crisis is causing delays in the investments of care organizations in Computed Radiography (CR) equipment and Imaging IT. The market for X-ray film evolved in line with expectations. Agfa HealthCare was able to expand its market share for hardcopy film. Sales in this segment were characterized by the continuing market decline in the USA, an accelerating market decline in Western Europe and continued growth in emerging markets. Enterprise IT continued to perform strongly.
Agfa HealthCare succeeded in considerably improving its profitability due to improved service efficiencies and a continued reduction of its SG&A expenses. Recurring EBITDA amounted to 42.2 million Euro (or 14.3 percent of sales). Recurring EBIT improved by 49.2 percent to 28.5 million Euro, or 9.7 percent of sales.
In the field of Imaging Informatics, Agfa HealthCare released its latest version of its PACS (Picture Archiving and Communication System) solution: IMPAX 6.4. This significant new release delivers new features and tools to aid users in managing complex multi-series studies and offers an improved navigation workflow for large CT and MR datasets. It also introduces new workflow features. Furthermore, Agfa HealthCare signed an agreement with Segami Corporation to integrate the Oasis workstation software into IMPAX. The solution permits nuclear medicine physicians to review, process and report studies on their IMPAX workstation.
The second quarter also saw the signing of a number of important IT contracts. The University Hospital of Bonn (Germany) selected IMPAX after a European-wide tender process for a PACS solution to meet the ever evolving needs of its radiology department. In Belgium, the Ziekenhuisnetwerk Antwerpen (Antwerp) will install IMPAX to centralize the diagnostic and clinical imaging needs of its nine sites across the city. Agfa HealthCare will act as the customer's key Application Service Provider (ASP) for medical imaging, providing remote solution hosting and management at its advanced server facilities in Mortsel.
In the USA, the Wichita Clinic in Kansas is deploying Agfa HealthCare's IMPAX Mobility solution wits its IMPAX Data Center enterprise medical archive. IMPAX Mobility allows referring physicians to access medical data, 2D and 3D images and tools on virtually any device (including PCs, laptops and smartphones) over any type of network connection. Western Maryland Health System selected Agfa HealthCare to provide a state-of-the-art IMPAX cardiovascular imaging and information management system for its new healthcare facility in Cumberland, Maryland.
In Enterprise IT, Agfa HealthCare's ORBIS solution is gaining momentum in its selected target markets. In France, for example, the Centre Hospitalier du Mans selected ORBIS to support the implementation of a full Electronic Patient Record.
Related news articles:
- Agfa HealthCare's Profile