Trading Statement

RNS Number : 5164M

EMIS Group PLC

21 January 2016

 

                                                                                                             21 January 2016

EMIS Group plc

("EMIS Group" or "the Group")

Trading update for the year ended 31 December 2015

Notice of final results

EMIS Group plc (AIM: EMIS.L), the UK leader in connected healthcare software and services, today announces a trading update for the year ended 31 December 2015.

Overview

Overall, trading for the year was in line with the Board's expectations. There was further progress in the like-for-like operating margin although revenue growth of approximately 13% was held back by the timing of contracts within Secondary Care. The Group delivered growth both organically and through the recently acquired businesses. The Group also maintained its customarily strong revenue visibility, order book and pipeline.

Divisional review

In Primary & Community Care, 2015 was the first full year after the roll-out of EMIS Web in England and the Group ended the year with a UK market share of 55%. The EMIS Web roll-out programme in Wales was completed during the year. In Northern Ireland, pilot sites are already live and full scale implementation is expected to begin in early 2016 and conclude in 2017. We secured an extension to the current UK Ministry of Defence contract for a further three years. In the second half of the year, we maintained our strong momentum in Child Community and Mental Health (CCMH) with a further seven contract wins in the re-procurement of former NHS national programme contracts, a growth in market share to 12%, and a strong pipeline of opportunities for 2016.

The Community Pharmacy market share was maintained and ProScript Connect, the Group's next generation dispensary pharmacy management product, began successful pilots in Wales in the final quarter of 2015. In December 2015, a five year contract was signed with AAH Pharmaceuticals Limited extending the current agreement which covers AAH's third party estate to also include the Lloyds Pharmacy estate. This will add up to 1,800 sites to the Community Pharmacy estate over the next 18 months and will cement the Group's position as the market-leader. Once the roll-out is complete nearly half of community pharmacy sites in the UK will be using a solution provided by EMIS Health.

The new management team in Secondary Care, appointed in the first half of 2015, has made significant progress in refocusing the business, although fewer contract wins in the period have again led to a lower than expected revenue and profit contribution from this division. However, recent wins include a contract for a hospital pharmacy system for North Midlands Trust and appointment as preferred bidder for a Patient Administration System for delivery in 2016 which, together with a strong sales pipeline, reinforce our expectation of a better performance in the coming year.

Specialist Care remains the leading software provider in English diabetic retinopathy screening (DRS). Future screening provision business was secured for at least five years through winning four material DRS contracts across England.

Financial position

At its year end, the Group's net debt was £9.1m (2014: £11.8m). In addition to the normal seasonality of the Group's cash flow profile, the increase in net debt since the half year reflects the £3.0m net cash consideration for the Pinbellcom acquisition and working capital expansion due to the timing of payments and the unwinding of deferred income balances in respect of NHS funded hosting assets.

In the final results for the year to 31 December 2015, the Group expects to report a partial impairment in goodwill related to its Secondary Care business and a write down in the carrying value of its minority investment in Pharmacy2U. These impairment charges are non-cash items and do not affect the underlying performance of the Group.

Notice of final results

The Group intends to announce its final results for the year ended 31 December 2015 on 16 March 2016.

Chris Spencer, CEO, said:

"EMIS Group has again delivered profit growth in line with our expectations. As planned, we completed the Welsh roll-out of EMIS Web in Primary Care and further increased our market share in CCMH. Meanwhile, in Community Pharmacy we secured a contract that will grow our market share to close to 50%. Finally, in Secondary Care & Specialist Care we built foundations, maintained and strengthened substantial market shares and grew our extensive pipeline.

"The NHS in England remains supportive of EMIS Group's strategy of delivering digital technology allied to cultural change that will help create faster and better care. Speaking at EMIS Health's Primary Care offices on 15 January 2016, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said: 'I want to help doctors and nurses provide faster and better care - and improving technology in the NHS is a key way to do that. The systems I've seen here today are helping put people in the driving seat when it comes to managing their healthcare.'"

For further information, contact:

EMIS Group plc                                                                                Tel: [phone]

Chris Spencer, CEO

Peter Southby, CFO

www.emisgroupplc.com

Numis Securities Limited (Nominated Adviser & Broker)          Tel: [phone]

Oliver Hardy/Simon Willis/James Black

MHP Communications                                                                     Tel: [phone]

Reg Hoare/Giles Robinson/Charlie Barker/Tess Harris

Notes to Editors

EMIS Group is the UK leader in connected healthcare software and services. Its solutions are widely used across every major UK healthcare setting from primary and community care, to high street pharmacies, secondary care and specialist services. EMIS Group helps clinicians, in over 10,000 organisations, share vital information, facilitating better, more efficient healthcare and supporting longer and healthier lives.

EMIS Group serves the following healthcare markets under the EMIS Health brand:

•     Primary and Community Care, the UK leader in clinical IT systems for GPs and commissioners. EMIS Health products, including the flagship EMIS Web, hold over 40 million patient records and are used by nearly 6,000 healthcare organisations, including community-based teams.

•     Community Pharmacy, the UK's single most used integrated community pharmacy and retail system.

•     Secondary and Specialist Care, a leading software provider to NHS Acute Trusts and Boards, focused primarily on Hospital Pharmacy, A&E (holding over 30 million patient records), and Patient Administration Systems as well as England's leading provider of diabetic eye screening software and other ophthalmology-related solutions.

These markets are also supported by other EMIS Group businesses:

•     under the Patient brand, the UK's leading independent provider of patient-centric medical and well-being information and related transactional services.

•     under the Egton brand, providing specialist ICT infrastructure, software, hardware and engineering services.

•     under the EMIS Care brand, providing healthcare screening programmes such as diabetic eye screening programmes.

 

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