Excluding currency effects, the full year revenue increased by 0.9 percent. As expected, 2011 became the first year in which the digital and IT solutions were able to compensate for the decline in the traditional film business.
In the Imaging segment, the market-driven decline for traditional X-ray products accelerated, while the digital radiology business continued to grow, with Direct Radiography (DR) almost tripling in value. Powered by the strong performance in the fourth quarter, the Imaging IT segment's revenue remained stable in spite of the adverse economic conditions. The Enterprise IT segment recorded satisfactory revenue growth.
The high silver price, product mix changes and the production inefficiencies resulting from the reduced use of the Group's film production capacity impacted Agfa HealthCare's profitability. The business group succeeded in partially offsetting these adverse elements through film price increases and other efforts to improve efficiency. As a result, the gross profit margin decreased to 34.8 percent, versus 39.7 percent in 2010. Recurring EBITDA amounted to 123.5 million Euro (or 10.5 percent of revenue). Recurring EBIT amounted to 78.5 million Euro, or 6.7 percent of revenue.
Agfa HealthCare - Fourth Quarter 2011
As expected after a weak third quarter, Agfa HealthCare posted a solid revenue growth of 5.0 percent in the fourth quarter, reinforcing the trend of the beginning of the year. In Imaging, the comments given for the full year also apply to the fourth quarter. Capitalizing on the strong order book built up in the previous quarters, Imaging IT posted strong top line growth. Enterprise IT performed strongly in its main markets, being France and the German speaking countries in Europe.
In the South of Europe, the digital and IT activities continued to suffer from the recession. This - however - was more than compensated by the very strong performance in the Nordic region and the UK. Strong revenue growth was recorded in the growth markets. In North America, the addressable market was soft, but Agfa HealthCare was able to further strengthen its position.
The gross profit margin amounted to 34.8 percent of revenue, versus 36.9 percent in the previous year. The before-mentioned adverse elements were partially compensated by the successful film price increases and other efficiency measures. The fact that a substantial amount of IT projects was delivered in the fourth quarter also had a beneficial effect. The business group's recurring EBITDA margin amounted to 12.7 percent of revenue and the recurring EBIT margin reached 9.5 percent of revenue.
In the fourth quarter, Agfa HealthCare again confirmed its market leading position in the European Enterprise IT market by signing contracts with a number of major healthcare organizations. In Germany, the Städtisches Klinikum Karlsruhe and the Kliniken des Landskreises Göppingen are two examples of leading hospitals that are replacing their existing information systems with Agfa HealthCare's ORBIS. The Swiss Universitäre Psychiatrische Dienste in Bern also decided to introduce ORBIS in all its facilities. The business group boasts a strong order intake in the German speaking countries of Europe and in France.
In the field of Imaging IT, Agfa HealthCare introduced a number of additions and enhancements to its IMPAX RIS/PACS portfolio. At the RSNA event (Chicago), the business group announced that it has developed a solution that allows pathology departments to digitize their workflow. Furthermore, Agfa HealthCare launched a set of IMPAX tools that help hospitals in the USA to achieve compliance with the government's Meaningful Use standards. Also at RSNA, the business group unveiled its expanded portfolio of Cloud and Managed Services and Mobility Solutions, which aims to better help healthcare facilities achieve their performance and cost objectives. The solutions allow caregivers to view patient information virtually everywhere and anytime.
The group purchase division of the Premier healthcare alliance awarded Agfa HealthCare a new three-year multi-source contract for its IMPAX Data Center and RIS/PACS/Reporting solutions. Premier counts 2,500 member hospitals in the USA. In the fourth quarter, Agfa HealthCare also recorded a substantial amount of orders in the United Kingdom and Russia.
In Imaging, Agfa HealthCare extended its Direct Radiography (DR) portfolio with the DX-D 100 solution with wireless detector. This mobile DR X-ray unit is designed for bedside use. A new three-year contract for DR was signed with the US healthcare supply contracting company Novation. Since their introduction in 2009, the installed base for Agfa HealthCare's DR systems continues to grow steadily. In the fourth quarter, eye-catching contracts were signed with Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center - Canada's largest trauma center - and the Via Christi Clinic in Newton, Kansas. Both health centers selected Agfa HealthCare's highproductivity DX-D 500n DR system. Agfa HealthCare also signed a number of important Computed Radiography contracts. For instance, in New York the respected Beth Israel Medical Center has chosen Agfa HealthCare's DX-G CR solution to improve its workflow and deliver exceptional image quality.
Related news articles:
- Agfa HealthCare's Profile
About Agfa
The Agfa-Gevaert Group is one of the world's leading companies in imaging and information technology. Agfa develops manufactures and markets analogue and digital systems for the printing industry (Agfa Graphics), for the healthcare sector (Agfa HealthCare), and for specific industrial applications (Agfa Materials). Agfa is headquartered in Mortsel, Belgium. The company is present in 40 countries and has agents in another 100 countries around the globe. The Agfa-Gevaert Group achieved a turnover of 2,948 million euro in 2010.
About Agfa HealthCare
Agfa HealthCare, a member of the Agfa-Gevaert Group, is a leading global provider of diagnostic imaging and healthcare IT solutions. The company has nearly a century of healthcare experience and has been a pioneer on the healthcare IT market since the early 1990's. Today Agfa HealthCare designs, develops and delivers state-of-the-art systems for capturing, managing and processing diagnostic images and clinical/administrative information for hospitals and healthcare facilities, as well as contrast media solutions to enable effective medical imaging results. The company has sales offices and agents in over 100 markets worldwide. Sales for Agfa HealthCare in 2010 were 1,180 million euro.