In spite of the good performance of the IT business, Agfa HealthCare's top line decreased by 2.0% on a currency comparable basis. The decline is mainly explained by the Imaging segment's hardcopy business, where sales were exceptionally high in the first three quarters of 2015. The normalization of hardcopy sales in this year's first and second quarter led to a top line decrease compared to the same periods in 2015.
In the IT segment, the HealthCare Information Solutions range continued to grow strongly. The Imaging IT Solutions range also posted substantial revenue growth, driven by the success of the Enterprise Imaging platform.
Mainly due to the structural efficiency measures, Agfa HealthCare's gross profit margin improved substantially from 39.8% of revenue in the second quarter of 2015 to 41.9%. Recurring EBITDA reached 43.9 million Euro (15.8% of revenue), versus 45.5 million Euro (15.5% of revenue) in the second quarter of 2015. Recurring EBIT amounted to 37.3 million Euro (13.5% of revenue), compared to 38.9 million Euro (13.2% of revenue).
In the field of Imaging, Agfa HealthCare signed an agreement with Kettering Health Network (Ohio, USA) for the installation of nine instant DR systems in three of the network's hospitals. The agreement fits in the network’s strategy to upgrade and improve its technology in view of the ever-increasing patient load.
In the field of Imaging IT Solutions, Agfa HealthCare continued to sign important contracts for its new, comprehensive Enterprise Imaging platform. With the solution, hospitals can enable clinicians to access and use all imaging data they need, no matter where they are practicing. Examples of organizations implementing the solution in the USA are Methodist Healthcare (San Antonio, Texas) and Augusta Health (Fisherville, Virginia). With 3,000 beds across 12 hospital sites, Methodist Healthcare is the largest hospital by number of beds in the USA.
In the Netherlands, the Zuyderland Medical Center (MC) has successfully upgraded its imaging cloud solution and migrated to a new image data center, managed by Agfa HealthCare. The Zuyderland MC was formed after the merger of two hospitals. The merged hospital needed a solution to allow the different systems at the two sites to communicate with each other, as well as a shared data center for archiving and managing images.
In HealthCare Information Solutions, Agfa HealthCare and Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP) have extended their relationship for another four years. Agfa HealthCare will deploy its ORBIS clinical information system across all 39 AP-HP hospitals. The project is one of the most ambitious healthcare IT deployments in Europe. In the UK, Agfa HealthCare signed an agreement with Derby Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to implement the ORBIS ICU Manager solution. The solution will allow the organization to automate the collection of data from monitors and devices in the Intensive Care Units (ICU). By speeding up workflow and reducing the risk of potential errors, the solution can help the hospital to improve clinical safety, efficiency and cost effectiveness.
In June, Agfa HealthCare announced that it joined the Watson Health Imaging Center of Excellence, created by IBM Watson Health. The initiative brings together clinical and industrial participants to develop cognitive technologies in the domain of imaging. Its ultimate goal is saving and improving lives, reducing costs and improving access in order to expand the physicians' view and support them to make more confident diagnostic and treatment decisions. Agfa HealthCare will e.g. contribute to the training of Watson on common diseases associated with a high use of imaging, high mortality and high costs.
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.