Agfa HealthCare's revenue decreased by 4.1 percent. This clear improvement compared to the previous quarters of the year is the result of the efforts to support the growth engines of the business group on the one hand and the evolution of the Euro exchange rate on the other hand. Continuing the success of the previous quarters, the Direct Radiography product range's revenue grew strongly. The hardcopy business also performed well. The uncertain conditions in the US radiology market continued to weigh on Agfa HealthCare's IT segment.
Agfa HealthCare's gross profit margin reached 38.0 percent of revenue, which is a clear improvement versus the fourth quarter of 2013 (36.1 percent of revenue), as well as versus the earlier quarters of 2014. Recurring EBITDA reached 43.2 million Euro (14.3 percent of revenue). Recurring EBIT grew to 34.6 million Euro (11.4 percent of revenue).
In the field of Imaging, Agfa HealthCare received FDA clearance for its DX-D Imaging package, which contains Cesium-based CR and DR technology. Furthermore, Agfa HealthCare launched its new DX-D 40 digital detector. The detector allows healthcare facilities to cost-efficiently upgrade their existing film and CR X-ray equipment to DR.
In the fourth quarter, Agfa HealthCare's recently launched Fast Forward Digital Radiography Upgrade Program continued its success. The program aims to support and improve hospitals’ and imaging departments' digital imaging evolution. In Switzerland, a major imaging contract was signed with the Hôpitaux Universitaires de Genève, which will install seven DX-D 100 mobile DR systems. In the US, the Massachusetts General Hospital installed eight DX-D 100 systems and eight DX-D 600 fully automated DR X-ray rooms. Other care centers that selected Agfa HealthCare's digital radiography technology in the fourth quarter included the Hôpital Intercantonal de la Broye (Switzerland), the Victoria Community Hospital (UK), the Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust (UK), the Cremona Hospital (Italy) and the Oglio Po Hospital (Italy). At the end of 2014, over 50,000 Agfa HealthCare digital radiography solutions were installed in hospitals, clinics and healthcare facilities around the world.
In the field of Imaging IT Solutions, Agfa HealthCare announced that it merged its enterprise imaging solution (formerly branded ICIS - Imaging Clinical Information System) and its departmental imaging system (formerly branded IMPAX Agility) into a single, completely unified imaging platform, called Agfa HealthCare Enterprise Imaging. It allows any physician, across the department, hospital or regional hospital network, to create, collaborate on, exchange, view and manage medical imaging records for every patient. The Agfa HealthCare Enterprise Imaging platform makes image-enabled Electronic Health Records a reality, as it creates a true imaging record for every patient.
In the US, a major contract was signed with the Defense Logistics Agency for the implementation of an enterprise imaging solution at 7 medical treatment facilities of the US Army Western Region Medical Command. The contract reaffirmed the strength of Agfa HealthCare's relationship with the US government. Over the years, the business group has installed solutions at more than 200 Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense medical facilities, including over 30 US Navy ships.
In the field of Healthcare Information Solutions, Agfa HealthCare confirmed the strong position of its ORBIS solution in the German speaking region of Europe. In Germany, contracts were signed with - among other organizations - St. Josefs-Hospital Cloppenburg, the Niels-Stensen-Kliniken, the Bosse Wittenberg clinic and the Dessau clinic (both part of the Alexianer network) and the KMG Clinic Boizenburg. Furthermore, Agfa HealthCare signed a number of important ORBIS contracts in France, e.g. with the Centre Hospitalier de St-Quentin and the Centre Hospitalier de Remiremont.
The installed base for the HYDMedia content management solution also continued to grow. Among other care facilities, four hospitals of the German Alexianer hospital group signed a HYDMedia contract in the fourth quarter.
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 2,865 million euro in 2013.
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 2013 were 1,160 million euro.