PRESS RELEASE
Interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2020
Services strategy drives revenue and profit growth
Order book growth underpins high forward visibility
- Total revenue growth of 14.8%
- Service fee revenue growth of 25.9% (18.0% on a like-for-like basis)
- Adjusted EBITDA £9.1 million up 40.0%
- Order book up 22.0% since 1 January 2020 providing high visibility into H2 2020 and beyond
- Strong net cash balance of £14.1 million
Guildford, UK – 22 September 2020: Ergomed plc, (LSE: ERGO) ('Ergomed' or the 'Company'), a company focused on providing specialised services to the global pharmaceutical industry, announces its interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2020.
Financial Summary
First Half 2020 | First Half 2019 | % change | |||
Figures in £ millions, unless otherwise stated | |||||
Total Revenue | 40.4 | 35.2 | 14.8 | ||
Service Fee Revenue | 36.9 | 29.3 | 25.9 | ||
Like-for-like Service Fee Revenue (Note 1) | 32.7 | 27.7 | 18.0 | ||
Gross Profit | 18.5 | 14.5 | 27.6 | ||
Gross Margin (%) | 45.8% | 41.2% | - | ||
Adjusted EBITDA (Note 2) | 9.1 | 6.5 | 40.0 | ||
Net cash at 30 June | 14.1 | 8.1 | 74.1 | ||
Order book at 30 June | 151.4 | 118.3 | 28.0 | ||
Basic adjusted earnings per share (pence) (Note 3) | 11.3p | 9.6p | 17.7 |
Notes:
(1) Like-for-like Service Fee revenue excludes H1 2020 revenues of £4.2m in PrimeVigilance USA Inc acquired on 10 January 2020 and H1 2019 revenues of £1.6m arising from exceptional change orders.
(2) Adjusted EBITDA is defined as operating profit for the period plus depreciation and amortisation, share-based payment charge, acquisition related consideration and costs and exceptional items, less one-off receipts in the period comprising a prior year R&D tax credit and COVID-19 grants (Note 7 to the financial statements).
(3) Basic adjusted earnings per share is defined as earnings per share after adjustment for items referred to in Note 3 to the financial statements.
Dr Miroslav Reljanović, Executive Chairman of Ergomed, said: “Ergomed has delivered exceptional progress both operationally and financially during the first half of the year, continuing to demonstrate our ability to drive sustained growth through a clear focus on our service model strategy. We responded robustly to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic with strong revenue and profit growth, a growing order book and sales momentum across the business. We will continue to invest for organic growth and efficiency, with a disciplined approach to strategic acquisition opportunities, and are firmly positioned to realise our potential as a leading global provider of specialist services to the pharmaceutical industry.”
Key Financial Highlights
- Revenue of £40.4 million, up 14.8% (H1 2019: £35.2 million)
- Adjusted EBITDA of £9.1 million, up 40.0% (H1 2019: £6.5 million)
- Basic adjusted earnings per share of 11.3p (H1 2019: 9.6p)
- Net cash of £14.1 million after £8.1 million acquisition costs paid in cash in H1 2020 (30 June 2019: £8.1 million)
Operational Highlights
- Robust sales performance with net new awards up 22.9%
- Order book of future contracted revenue up 28.0% to £151.4 million (30 June 2019: £118.3 million)
- PrimeVigilance revenues up 62.1% including major new awards and renewals
- PrimeVigilance USA business now fully integrated
- Significant new clinical trial awards including COVID-19 related studies
- North America revenues up 79.3%
- Overall resilient response to COVID-19 challenges
Webcast and conference call for analysts:
A webcast and conference call for analysts will be held at 9.00am BST on 22 September 2020.
Webcast link: https://www.lsegissuerservices.com/spark/Ergomed/events/c9f781ec-c803-4029-87ac-1e0a87289ac9
Conference call details
UK Participant Local Dial-In: (0) 20 3107 0289
US Participant International Dial-In: +1 (918) 922-6506
International Dial-In: +44 (0) 80 0028 8438
Conference ID: 7053179
Enquiries:
Ergomed plc | Tel: +44 (0) 1483 402 975 |
Miroslav Reljanović (Executive Chairman) | |
Richard Barfield (Chief Financial Officer) | |
Numis Securities Limited | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7260 1000 |
Freddie Barnfield / Huw Jeremy (Nominated Adviser) | |
James Black (Broker) | |
Consilium Strategic Communications – for UK enquiries | Tel: +44 (0) 20 3709 5700 |
Chris Gardner / Sue Stuart | ergomed@consilium-comms.com |
Olivia Manser / Lizzie Seeley |
About Ergomed plc
Ergomed provides specialist services to the pharmaceutical industry spanning all phases of clinical development, post-approval pharmacovigilance and medical information. Ergomed's fast-growing, profitable services business includes an industry leading suite of specialist pharmacovigilance (PV) solutions, integrated under the PrimeVigilance brand, a full range of high-quality clinical research and trial management services under the Ergomed brand (CRO), and an internationally recognised specialist expertise in orphan drug development, under PSR. For further information, visit: http://ergomedplc.com.
Forward-looking Statements
Certain statements contained within the announcement are forward-looking statements and are based on current expectations, estimates and projections about the potential results of Ergomed plc (“Ergomed”) and the industry and markets in which Ergomed operates, the Directors' beliefs and assumptions made by the Directors. Words such as "expects", "anticipates", "should", "intends", "plans", "believes", "seeks", "estimates", "projects", "pipeline" and variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements and expectations. These statements are not guarantees of future performance or the ability to identify and consummate investments and involve certain risks, uncertainties, outcomes of negotiations and due diligence and assumptions that are difficult to predict, qualify or quantify. Therefore, actual outcomes and results may differ materially from what is expressed in such forward-looking statements or expectations. Among the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially are: the general economic climate, competition, interest rate levels, loss of key personnel, the result of legal and commercial due diligence, the availability of financing on acceptable terms and changes in the legal or regulatory environment.
These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this announcement. Ergomed expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to disseminate any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in Ergomed’s expectations with regard thereto, any new information or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statements are based, unless required to do so by law or any appropriate regulatory authority.
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