Interim report for the first quarter, May – July 2007: Sectra’s order bookings doubled

Sectra’s net sales for the first quarter increased by 11.1% to SEK 149.9 million (134.9) compared with the year-earlier period. Profit after financial items amounted to SEK 3.5 million (5.0), which corresponds to a profit margin of 2.3% (3.7). Order bookings rose to SEK 206.4 million (98.8), slightly higher than double the amount compared with a year earlier.

Rising earnings from direct sales of medical systems in the US and other markets outside Sweden contributed to the sales increase in the quarter. Among other successes, Sectra signed a five-year service agreement with the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation, the largest municipal healthcare provider in the US.

”We are continuing to expand outside our home market. The choice by such large customers as the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation to use Sectra is strategically important for our continued expansion in the US,” says Jan-Olof Brüer, President and CEO of Sectra. ”We are in the midst of implementing measures decided to increase our own direct sales. Our assessment is that Sectra will continue to expand with favorable profitability,” continues Jan-Olof Brüer.

Sectra continued to report sales successes on the mammography market during the quarter. These included an order from Ireland’s national program for mammography screening for Sectra’s digital mammography system, Sectra MicroDose Mammography, for expansion of digital mammography nationwide.

FDA application

In June, Sectra submitted the first part of its application to sell Sectra MicroDose Mammography in the US to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The application procedure now being initiated by Sectra is modular and has been extended to include the most recent version of Sectra MicroDose Mammography.