25th Mar 2019 11:24
LONDON (Alliance News) - Medica Group PLC on Monday reported a 61% rise in annual profit on the back of higher sales, as it looks optimistically to the future.
For 2018 the provider of teleradiology services posted pretax profit of GBP9.2 million from GBP5.7 million a year prior.
Revenue rose 16% year-on-year to GBP39.0 million from GBP33.7 million in line with the company's expectations, while administrative expenses remained broadly in line with the previous year.
Furthermore, the company did not incur any exceptional finance costs, versus GBP582,000 a year ago.
"2018 was another year of strong progress for Medica as we again delivered double-digit revenue and profit growth. We maintained our market leading position in the UK teleradiology market, increasing penetration of NightHawk and Cross Sectional services," Chief Executive John Graham said.
NightHawk is an out-of-hours emergency reporting service, while Cross Sectional is a less urgent MRI and CT scan service.
Graham has also informed he will step down during 2019, with a succession plan already underway.
Medica Group proposed a final dividend of 1.50 pence per share, making for an annual payout of 2.25p per share, up 36% from 1.65p a year ago.
Finally, the company was able to reduce its net debt to nothing from GBP5 million reported at the end of 2017.
Looking ahead, Graham said: "2019 has started well and we expect revenue growth to remain at double-digit levels similar to 2018."
The company added it continues to have a strong pipeline both for new work from existing and new clients and for the recruitment of new radiologists, contributing to a confident outlook for 2019.
Medica Group shares were trading up 3.2% at 129.00p each on Monday morning.
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