- Third quarter sales of € 3.6 million exceed first two quarters of 2014 (prev. year: € 3.6 million)
- Sales of € 9.7 million after first three quarters in line with previous year
- Share of maintenance business remains stable at 44 % (prev. year: 45 %)
- Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) slightly lower at € 3.2 million (prev. year: € 3.5 million), but EBIT margin remains strong at 33 %
- Profit for the period up sharply to € 3.5 million (prev. year: € 2.9 million) thanks to good financial result
- Earnings per share up 17 %, from € 1.71 to € 2.01
- Liquidity of € 15.5 million as of September 30, 2014 (end of 2013: € 13.5 million)
- Software solution for lung screening complete, first industrial customer acquired
Bremen, November 17, 2014 – MeVis Medical Solutions AG [ISIN: DE000A0LBFE4], a leading medical imaging software company, today announced its results for the first three quarters of 2014.
Sales in the third quarter of 2014 amounted to € 3,599 k, slightly above the previous year’s level (€ 3,554 k) and well in excess of the first two quarters of 2014. Sales in the first nine months were just slightly lower year on year at € 9,661 k (prev. year: € 9,712 k). Sales in the new license business stabilized at € 5,067 k (prev. year: € 5,034 k), while sales in the maintenance business were down slightly by 3 % to € 4,293 k, accounting for 44 % of total sales. Sales in the Digital Mammography segment improved by 3 % to € 7,280 k (prev. year: € 7,087 k) while sales in the Other Diagnostics segment fell by 9 % to € 2,381 k (prev. year: € 2,625 k).
Operating costs rose in the reporting period 2014 primarily on the back of higher staff costs, which increased by 6 % to € 5,208 k (prev. year: € 4,895 k), particularly due to minor salary increases and a slight increase in the number of employees. Other operating expenses rose by 18 % to € 1,542 k (prev. year: € 1,303 k), which was partly offset by the transfer of costs to the MeVis BreastCare joint venture, as is reflected in the sharp increase in other operating income.
Capitalized development expenses rose slightly to € 1,163 k (prev. year: € 1,075 k). However, this figure is expected to subside considerably in future.
EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) was down by 7 %, from € 4,697 k to € 4,373 k year on year due to higher costs and the fact that sales remained more or less stable.
Depreciation and amortization came to € 1,223 k, on par with the previous year, resulting in EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) of € 3,150 k (down a sharp 10 % on the previous year’s figure of € 3,485 k); the EBIT margin remained strong at 33 % (prev. year: 36 %).
The financial result was up sharply by € 1,100 k to € 775 k year on year, thanks mainly to the development of the US dollar, the considerable improvement in earnings at joint venture MeVis BreastCare and higher interest income. Tax expenses increased by € 258 k to € 469 k.
After-tax earnings increased by € 507 k to € 3,456 k, which is equivalent to earnings per share of € 2.01 (prev. year: € 1.71).
Cash and cash equivalents were up by a considerable € 2,069 k to € 15,519 k as of September 30, 2014 compared to the end of 2013.
“In view of the development of business so far, we are very confident that we can meet our forecast for the year,” commented Dr. Robert Hannemann, CFO of MeVis Medical Solutions AG. “Given that fiscal year 2013 was very successful, we anticipate a slight decline in sales to between € 12.0 million and € 12.5 million in 2014. The development of EBIT will in our view be significantly impacted by the expected slight decline in sales and a marginal increase in costs. We also anticipate considerably lower capitalized development expenses in the fourth quarter. We expect EBIT to fall slightly to between € 3.0 million and € 3.5 million. Liquidity is forecast to rise to between € 15.0 million and € 16.0 million in 2014 as a result of sustained positive cash flows from operating activities”.
“We are pleased that we were able to complete our Veolity software solution for the growth market of lung cancer screening in the third quarter,” states Marcus Kirchhoff, CEO of MeVis Medical Solutions AG. “The conclusion of a contract with an important industrial customer in the third quarter confirms our conviction that other market players see lung screening as a lucrative market.” Mr. Kirchhoff added: “We very much welcome the decision of the CMS (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) of November 10th, 2014 that the national health insurances Medicare and Medicaid will assume the reimbursement of costs for lung screening in the United States. Through this decision a lung screening program throughout the United States can be implemented in the coming years.”