Biohit Oyj records a goodwill impairment in its 2011 Financial Statements

14 February 2012   5:15 PM.

Biohit Oyj, Stock exchange release, 14 February 2012   5:15 PM

The Board of Directors of Biohit Oyj has decided that Biohit Oyj records a goodwill impairment of EUR 2.6 million in its 2011 Financial Statements. The impairment is based on the goodwill impairment testing required by the IFRS standards and carried out at the year end. 

Goodwill has been allocated to certain GastroPanel products in the Diagnostics segment. Testing was executed according to the same principles as in the previous year. In 2010, the previous year’s forecast proved to be fairly accurate, but in 2011, actual performance was substantially behind the forecast. In the first years of the forecast period, the expected cash flow from products was negative due to delayed net sales development and the fact that most of expenditure occurred at early stages of the period. According to the IFRS standards, this creates a need to record an impairment for goodwill in its entirety, EUR 2.6 million.

For further details, contact:
Semi Korpela
President and CEO
tel. +358 40 573 7701
semi.korpela@biohit.fi

Distribution:
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OMX Helsinki Oyj
Central Storage Facility (www.oam.fi)
Press
www.biohit.fi
 

About Biohit

Biohit Oyj is a globally operating Finnish biotechnology company established in 1988. Biohit's mission crystallizes in its motto “Innovating for Health”. The company assumes social responsibility by producing innovations, new technologies and analysis systems for use in medicine, research institutions and industry. These products help to promote research and diagnostics, while improving quality of life by preventing disease, human suffering and financial loss. Biohit also seeks to innovate and develop the marketing and availability of its products and services.

Biohit works with scientific communities to produce new technologies, products and services based on research results and innovations. These can be used to develop safe and cost-effective diagnostic tests for the early detection and prevention of diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. (www.biohit.fi / International / State of the art GastroPanel and Acetium innovations for the unmet need).

In January 2012, sixteen world-leading gastroenterology specialists from eleven countries proposed in their SJG publication the use of the biomarkers of the modern GastroPanel test for safe and cost-efficient primary diagnosis and screening of Helicobacter infection and atrophic gastritis in patients with stomach discomfort and in asymptomatic patients, as it is neither safe nor cost-efficient to use the 13C urea breath test for this purpose. In addition, the authors of the publication state that acetaldehyde generated in an achlorhydric stomach (a consequence of atrophic gastritis) is a significant reason for an increased gastric and oesophageal cancer risk.  Acetium capsules can reduce the amount of cancer-causing acetaldehyde generated in the stomach – and thus, very likely, they also reduce the cancer risk (SJG: “GastroPanel biomarkers: Rationale in diagnosis and screening of atrophic gastritis with stomach-specific plasma biomarkers”, Scadinavian Journal of Gastroenterology. 2012; 47: 136–147).

Biohit's products include analysis systems for the prevention and early diagnosis of gastrointestinal diseases, such as the blood-sample based GastroPanel examinations for the diagnosis of stomach illnesses and associated risks, quick tests for the diagnosis of lactose intolerance and H. pylori infection in connection with gastroscopy, and the ColonView examination for the early detection of intestinal bleeding that indicates a risk of colorectal cancer. Acetium reduces the amount of carcinogenic acetaldehyde in an anacidic stomach. (www.acetium.com/test - reveals acetaldehyde exposure)

The population is aging and, therefore, the need for safe and cost-efficient diagnosis and prevention of diseases is strongly increasing. People are becoming more aware of acetaldehyde and the cancer risks associated with it. This is expected to substantially increase the interest in the company's products and services.

Biohit is headquartered in Helsinki and has a subsidiary in the United Kingdom. Since 1999, Biohit’s Series B share (BIOBV) has been quoted on NASDAQ OMX Helsinki in the Small cap/Healthcare group (www.biohit.fi/Sijoittajat).

Read more at www.biohit.fi