Agfa HealthCare was able to achieve year-on-year revenue growth in 2012. The revenue increase by 3.0 percent to 1,212 million Euro reflects the performance of the growth initiatives on the one hand, and the effect of the relative weakness of the Euro on the other hand.
In spite of the adverse economic conditions, the IT segment continued to grow. The revenue increase in this segment is mainly attributable to the Enterprise IT business, whereas the Imaging IT business' revenue remained rather stable. IT performed strongly in Latin America and Europe, with the exception of the South of Europe, where the business suffered from the recession. In North America, the addressable market was rather soft.
In the Imaging segment, Agfa HealthCare continued to be one of the driving forces behind the evolution to digital radiography. In 2012, the digital radiography business (consisting of Computed Radiography, Direct Radiography and the hardcopy business) posted revenue growth: following a rather soft start of the year, the business picked up in the second half of 2012.
Due to the film price increases and Agfa HealthCare's efficiency improvement program, the gross profit margin improved from 34.8 percent in 2011 to 35.7 percent. Recurring EBITDA reached 133.4 million Euro (or 11.0 percent of revenue). Recurring EBIT improved strongly to 90.6 million Euro (or 7.5 percent of revenue).
"In spite of the difficult economic environment, our 2012 performance is well in line with expectations. We succeeded in growing our top line and - more importantly - we reversed the previously negative gross margin trend in spite of the considerable negative effect of raw material prices. Our efficiency improvement program delivered its first significant results, helping the company to achieve a positive net result in the fourth quarter of 2012 for the first time since the second quarter of 2011. I am convinced that Agfa is now on a better track and I reiterate the company's target of delivering a double digit recurring EBITDA percentage in the medium term. In 2013, we will continue to focus our efforts on keeping our SG&A costs under control; improving our gross margin; and growing the top line of Agfa Graphics' inkjet business and Agfa HealthCare's digital radiography and IT businesses," said Christian Reinaudo, President and CEO of the Agfa-Gevaert Group.
- 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.