Elekta to focus on continued strong growth and R&D investments in coming years
STOCKHOLM, Sweden, June 12 – Following on a strong year-end report, Elekta presented a very positive outlook for the coming years at its Capital Markets Day in Stockholm.
Elekta President and CEO, Tomas Puusepp, opened the meeting by presenting statistics that support Elekta’s stronger position in all markets and he restated the company’s ambition of two million patients being treated with Elekta solutions every year.
“We have continued our fast growth in emerging markets and also strengthening our positions in established markets. During the next three years our ambition is to grow net sales by 40* percent,” he told the audience of about 100 investors and analysts. “We are the leader in the majority of these markets and we are investing further to help patients live better lives.
“We’ve strengthened our position in established markets and have grown faster than the competition. Asia has shown good growth and China is now our second largest market in Elekta.” Puusepp said the company will continue to focus on Europe, in particular on the region’s emerging markets. As for the Siemens replacement cycle, he said he expects it to normalize and grow in the coming years but does not expect a short term acceleration.
Puusepp also spoke of Elekta’s innovation leadership and pointed to its latest linear accelerator, Versa HD™, launched in March 2013. “We received 30 orders in the first 60 days, demonstrating strong demand and good uptake.” He said the company will increase its investments in R&D to maintain its role as the pioneer in neuroscience and cancer care.
“To further strengthen our leadership we will increase our R&D investments for the coming year by more than 20 percent. We have an extensive product development program focusing on, for example, integrated software solutions, brachytherapy and a project to merge radiation therapy and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) into a single system,” Puusepp said.
Håkan Bergström, Elekta CFO, gave a financial overview and explained the company’s strategy for sustainable profitable growth. “We have shown increased efficiency in the organization and we will continue this by leveraging on our fixed cost base. In 2012/13, the SG&A cost as a ratio to net sales was 20 percent and we have the ambition to lower it to below 18 percent,” he said. “We also plan to expand our aftermarket revenue stream and we expect another strong fiscal year for 2013-14.”
Presentations were also given by Jay Hoey, Executive Vice President North America; Gilbert Wai, Executive Vice President Asia Pacific; and Ian Alexander, Executive Vice President Europe & Africa Latin America and Middle East (AFLAME). Highlights included:
• 11 percent CAGR order growth in North America during recent years
• Share of new order intake was approximately 50 percent in Asia Pacific during fiscal year 2012/13
• Around 50 percent of market share in India and in China, the company’s second largest market
• Leader in both established and emerging markets in Europe and AFLAME.
The Capital Markets Day was held on June 12 from 13:00 CET, at Clarion Sign Hotel in Stockholm. The presentations and video replay are available on www.elekta.com/ir.
*In local currency
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For further information, please contact:
Håkan Bergström, Chief Financial Officer
Tel: +46 733 342 318, e-mail: hakan@bergstrom@elekta.com
Time zone: CET: Central European Time
Johan Andersson, Director, Investor Relations, Elekta AB
Tel: +46 702 100 451, e-mail: johan.andersson@elekta.com
Time zone: CET: Central European Time
The above information is such that Elekta AB (publ) shall make public in accordance with the Securities Market Act and/or the Financial Instruments Trading Act. The information was published at 13:00 CET on June 12, 2013.
About Elekta
Elekta is a human care company pioneering significant innovations and clinical solutions for treating cancer and brain disorders. The company develops sophisticated, state-of-the-art tools and treatment planning systems for radiation therapy, radiosurgery and brachytherapy, as well as workflow enhancing software systems across the spectrum of cancer care. Stretching the boundaries of science and technology, providing intelligent and resource-efficient solutions that offer confidence to both healthcare providers and patients, Elekta aims to improve, prolong and even save patient lives.
Today, Elekta solutions in oncology and neurosurgery are used in over 6,000 hospitals worldwide. Elekta employs around 3,400 employees globally. The corporate headquarters is located in Stockholm, Sweden, and the company is listed on the Nordic Exchange under the ticker EKTAb. Website: www.elekta.com.