21 January 2021
EMIS Group plc
("EMIS Group" or "the Group")
Trading update
Notice of final results
EMIS Group plc (AIM: EMIS.L), the UK leader in connected healthcare software and systems, today announces a trading update for the year ended 31 December 2020.
Overview
Following an improvement in the second half, trading for the year was marginally ahead of the Board's expectations, with both revenue and adjusted operating profit maintained at similar levels to the previous year.
Divisional review
In EMIS Health, the Group remains a key partner to the NHS and its leading market shares were maintained, with increased Covid-19 related sales of lower margin hardware adding to the division's steady underlying growth.
In EMIS Enterprise, trading improved gradually over the second half of the year as expected, including in the Analytics business, with the controlled release of EMIS-X Analytics in the final quarter of the year.
The Group has continued to support the NHS in its fight against Covid-19 in a variety of areas, including the deployment of its Pinnacle solution to support the government's vaccination programme. The Group is working with the NHS to scale up the software beyond the previous system capacity to meet the unprecedented demands of the rapidly expanding vaccination programme while maintaining high performance standards.
Having successfully transitioned its teams to homeworking in March 2020, the Group has adopted a policy of being primarily a homeworking organisation, which has continued to serve the Group's customers and staff well during successive lockdown periods. Therefore while the continued restrictions increase uncertainty, the Group does not anticipate a significant impact on its ability to trade normally through the latest national lockdown.
As previously indicated, the Group has continued to invest in the development of its next generation technology throughout the period.
Financial position
The Group has a strong balance sheet with net cash of £53.0m as at 31 December 2020 (31 December 2019: £31.1m), including £7.3m of deferred VAT payments which will be paid in the next quarter.
Notice of final results
The Group intends to announce its final results for the year ended 31 December 2020 on Thursday 18 March 2021. There will be a webcast presentation for analysts and institutional investors on the day, which will also be available on the Group's website; please contact emis@mhpc.com for further information.
Andy Thorburn, Chief Executive Officer of EMIS Group, said:
"In these extraordinary times I am proud that EMIS has risen to the challenge of supporting our national heroes in the NHS, in community pharmacy and across the healthcare sector. Our mission-critical digital, analytics, clinical, dispensing and partner systems have been deployed to enable and support our NHS customers' impressive response to this pandemic.
"Most importantly, our people at EMIS have been tirelessly supporting our customers and our colleagues throughout 2020 and continue to do so with the Pinnacle and EMIS Web system work now being undertaken to support the government's national vaccination programme. The level of commitment from our team has been extraordinary.
"I am pleased that our trading improved in the second half of the year and believe this reflects the strength of our business model and of our team. The Board remains confident in the outlook for the business."
For further information, contact:
EMIS Group plc Tel: 0113 380 3000
Andy Thorburn, CEO
Peter Southby, CFO
Numis Securities Limited (Nominated Adviser & Broker) Tel: 020 7260 1000
Oliver Hardy/Simon Willis/James Black
MHP Communications Tel: 020 3128 8168
Reg Hoare/Giles Robinson/Florence Mayo/Pandora Yadgaroff emis@mhpc.com
Information for investors, including analyst consensus forecasts, can be found on the Group's website at www.emisgroupplc.com/investors.
Notes to Editors
EMIS Group is the UK leader in connected healthcare software and systems. Its solutions are widely used across every major UK healthcare setting. EMIS Group's aim is to join up healthcare through innovative technology, helping to deliver better health outcomes to the UK population, supporting longer and healthier lives.
EMIS Group has two core business segments: EMIS Health and EMIS Enterprise.
EMIS Health is a supplier of innovative integrated care technology to the NHS, including primary, community, acute and social care.
EMIS Enterprise is focussed on growth in the business-to-business technology sector within the healthcare market, including management of medicines, partner businesses and patient-facing services.
LEI: 213800K474ZZK76NX913
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