Year-end report 2017: Broad improvements give strong end of year

• The results for the quarter are GHP’s best fourth quarter so far
• Sales growth continues to be good, with organic growth of 10 percent
• Improvement work will continue so as to meet price pressure and further improve profitability
• New strong management structures in all three segments contribute to the positive performance 

Fourth quarter 2017

• Sales revenues increased to SEK 288.5 million (272.8)
• Organic growth amounted to 10.4 percent (16.4)
• EBITDA amounted to SEK 31,0 million (23.6)
• EBITDA margin amounted to 10.7 percent (8.6)
• Result after tax (EAT) amounted to SEK 17.7 million (14.8)
• Result per share amounted to SEK 0.22 (0.21)

Full year 2017

• Sales revenues increased to SEK 990.8 million (955.4)
• Organic growth amounted to 6.0 percent (14.5)
• Adjusted EBITDA amounted to SEK 58.8 million
• EBITDA amounted to SEK 42.2 million (80.9)
• EBITDA margin amounted to 4.3 percent (8.5)
• Result after tax (EAT) amounted to SEK 9.2 million (45.1)
• Result per share amounted to SEK 0.08 (0.60)
• Board proposes, in order to prioritize efforts in stronger growth, that no dividend will be paid for 2017

CEO's comments
2017 was a challenging year that ended with a show of strength. In the first half of the year we entered the operational phase of running our hospitals in the United Arab Emirates at the same time as we carried out a major generation shift among the managers of our clinics. Furthermore, we also faced headwinds from fewer working days. All in all, this has meant that our main focus during the year was on increasing profitability through better operational planning, the introduction of cost cutting programmes and the divestment of unprofitable units. At the same time, we have continued our strategic initiatives in Vårdsamverkan and International, where both areas now have organizations of their own. This gives greater focus and opportunities than previously.

During the fourth quarter we took yet another step in the right direction. All in all, this means that we had our best fourth quarter ever and in spite of the Christmas holidays we almost equalled our next best quarter (Q2 2016). This is the result of the fact that largely all parts of the business took a number of steps forward. In the Nordic region the planning is better, demand continues to be strong and parts of the cost-cutting programme have had an impact. In the United Arab Emirates the results of our development work, within the hospitals, has begun to have an impact. This does not mean that we can sit on our laurels; we must continue to have a strong focus on efficiency and the development of costs. This is necessary, not least bearing in mind that we see continuing price pressure and that the County Councils’ difficulties in retaining staff result in higher salaries. However, I can see that we are well-equipped to manage these challenges and we have learnt a number of lessons and gained a number of tools from the challenging period that we have been through. 

In the Nordic region we can see that our work has led to considerably more even planning, which means that every day we use our resources better. Moreover, we can see how all our new and skilled managers – we had a large generation shift during the first half of 2017 –have now warmed to the task and are doing a great job of continuing to develop their businesses. Demand continues to be strong and there are many opportunities, but it is to a cost that place greater demands on efficiency and planning than previously.

In International we entered the operational phase, for the hospitals in Ajman, a year ago. Before that we had been evaluated on our preparation work. Now that we have entered the operational phase, we will be assessed on the hospitals’ actual results (above all qualitative results). As previously communicated, we knew that it would take a little time before our work actually resulted in measurable changes in the hospitals, but our goal was to return to the profitability we had in the contract during the preparation period. We have now almost reached this goal and even if things will continue to vary somewhat, we are in a considerably stronger position. This also means that we can spend more time on developing new business in the region. We now recognize that we have great potential to develop our business in the Middle East and are thoroughly evaluating several interesting projects.

We are not only focused on improving the results in our basic business, but we are also continuing with strategically important business activities. In Vårdsamverkan it is possible to seek care via an app, with both a video and a message function. We will also shortly be launching an in-house health promotion app together with a partner and we have new collaboration regarding coherent care in Gothenburg together with Skandia. In Stockholm we are now starting GHP’s 10th clinic in the form of UrologCentrum at Odenplan. This is our third urology business in Sweden, an exciting area with a lot of development potential and where there is great interest shown by the insurance companies. In Copenhagen, where demand is very strong, we have recently installed our second MRI camera and we have just made a decision regarding a major extension of the premises. In Gothenburg our newly started clinic, GHP Neuro Center, has just moved into new and larger premises at Carlanderska. All these investments have in common that we have strong demand, they make us more attractive for insurance companies and they can be made with retained cost control.

To summarise, the Group has taken large steps forward during the second half of 2017 and we are well-equipped for profitable development in a challenging environment with great opportunities. 

21 February 2018
Gothenburg
GHP Specialty Care AB (publ)

The Board

Queries should be addressed to:
Daniel Öhman, CEO, Tel: +46 708 55 37 07
Philip Delborn, CFO, Tel: +46 702 12 52 64

GHP is an internationally active health care provider that operates specialist clinics in a select number of diagnostic areas through the application of a business model that is unique in the health care industry, where leading doctors become partners and shareholders. Each clinic specialises in a particular patient group, and this leads to increased efficiency and higher quality. This is the cornerstone of GHP’s business philosophy – “Quality through specialisation”. GHP shares are traded on the Small Cap list of Nasdaq Stockholm under the ticker symbol “GHP”.

GHP Specialty Care AB (publ) | Corp. ID No. 556757-1103
Södra Hamngatan 45 | SE-411 06 Gothenburg | Sweden
Tel +46-31 712 53 00 | Fax +46-31 313 13 21 | www.ghp.se

GHP Specialty Care AB (publ) is required to publish the information herein pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. This information was published, through the agency of the contact persons set out above, on 21 February 2018 at 8:00 a.m. CET.

This report has not been the subject of review by the company’s auditor.

This is a translation of the Swedish version of the press release. When in doubt, the Swedish wording prevails.

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