Ergomed plc - Audited Full Year Results for the year ended 31 December 2020

• Adjusted EBITDA £19.4 million (up 55.2%)
• Revenue £86.4 million (up 26.5%)
• Strategic acquisitions in CRO and pharmacovigilance in the US strengthen global specialist leadership
• Forward visibility underpinned by strong order book of £193 million (up 55.5%)
• Year-end net cash balance of £19.0 million with unutilised credit facilities of £30 million

 

Guildford, UK – 23 March 2021: Ergomed plc (LSE: ERGO) ('Ergomed' or the 'Company' or the ‘Group’), a company focused on providing specialised services to the pharmaceutical industry, today announces its audited Full Year Results for the year ended 31 December 2020.

 

Selected Financial Highlights

 

	Full Year 2020		Full Year 2019		% change
Figures in £ millions, unless otherwise stated
Total Revenue	86.4		68.3		26.5
Service Fee Revenue	78.4		59.2		32.4
Like-for-like Service Fee Revenue (Note 1)	68.6		57.6		19.1
Gross Profit	39.7		29.5		34.6
Gross Margin (%)	45.9%		43.3%		+2.6ppts
Adjusted EBITDA (Note 2)	19.4		12.5		55.2
Net cash at 31 December	19.0		14.3		32.9
Order book at 31 December	193.0		124.1		55.5
Basic adjusted earnings per share (pence) (Note 3)	25.8p		19.9p		29.6

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Notes:

(1) Like-for-like Service Fee revenue excludes 2020 revenues of £9.2 million in PrimeVigilance USA Inc acquired on 10 January 2020 and £0.6 million in MS Clinical Services, LLC. and its subsidiaries (‘MedSource‘) acquired on 11 December 2020, as well as exceptional 2019 revenues of £1.6 million.

(2) Adjusted EBITDA is defined as operating profit for the period plus depreciation and amortisation, share-based payment charge, acquisition related consideration and costs and exceptional items, less one-off receipts in the period comprising a prior year R&D tax credit and Serbian employment growth grants (Note 9 to the financial statements).

(3) Basic adjusted earnings per share is defined as earnings per share after adjustment for items referred to in Note 8 to the financial statements.

 

Dr Miroslav Reljanović, Executive Chairman of Ergomed, said: “Ergomed made exceptional progress in delivering its strategy in 2020, despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. The resilience and robustness of our global services business was demonstrated by our continued strong organic growth whilst completing key strategic acquisitions in the US in both our pharmacovigilance and CRO businesses. We have started 2021 in a strong position, focused on our vision to achieve global leadership in specialised pharmaceutical services addressing unmet medical needs and patient safety.”

 

Key Financial Highlights

 

• Revenue of £86.4 million increased by 26.5% (2019: £68.3 million)

• Revenue growth in pharmacovigilance (PV) up 55.6% to £55.1 million (2019: £35.4 million) and up 30.0% to £46.0 million on a like-for-like basis excluding the acquisition of Ashfield Pharmacovigilance
• Revenue in Clinical Research Services (CRO) flat at £31.3 million (2019: £31.2 million excluding exceptional revenue) despite COVID-19, with service fee revenue returning to growth in H2 up 13.5% over H1

• Gross profit up 34.6% to £39.7 million (2019: £29.5 million)
• Adjusted EBITDA² up 55.2% to £19.4 million (2019: £12.5 million)
• Basic adjusted EPS up 29.6% to 25.8p (2019: 19.9p)
• Cash and cash equivalents up 32.9% to £19.0 million at 31 December 2020 (31 December 2019: £14.3 million) with operating cash flow of £19.0m
• Order book of £193.0 million future contracted revenue up 55.5% at 31 December 2020 (31 December 2019: £124.1 million)

 

Key Operational Highlights

 

·         Continued strong growth trend in challenging markets

·         Demonstrated resilience and ability to contribute in COVID-19 crisis

·         Completed two strategic acquisitions in USA to significantly expand our presence in both pharmacovigilance and CRO

• Ashfield Pharmacovigilance (now PrimeVigilance USA), acquired in January 2020, rapidly and successfully integrated
• MS Clinical Services, LLC. and its subsidiaries (‘MedSource‘), acquired December 2020, in process of integration

·         US revenue growth 82.4% over prior year

·         Successful focus on business development and cross-selling opportunities

 

 

COVID-19 Update

 

The Group continues to monitor closely developments relating to the unprecedented global healthcare challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic. We have been able to adapt our business model to the challenge and are proud to play a role in helping to combat the disease. We are confident that we will continue to be able to bring our expertise and proven capabilities to bear in advancing drug development in the field and improving outcomes for patients.

 

 

Conference call for analysts:

A conference call for analysts will be held at 9.00am GMT on 23 March 2021.

 

Conference call details:

 

Participant dial-in: 080 0279 6619
International dial-in: +44 (0) 2071 928338
Participant code: 6293710

 

Webcast link: https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/mvia3sy8

 

Enquiries:

 

Ergomed plc	Tel: +44 (0) 1483 402 975
Miroslav Reljanović (Executive Chairman)
Richard Barfield (Chief Financial Officer)
Numis Securities Limited	Tel: +44 (0) 20 7260 1000
Freddie Barnfield / Matthew O’Dowd (Nominated Adviser)
James Black (Broker)
Consilium Strategic Communications	Tel: +44 (0) 20 3709 5700
Chris Gardner / Angela Gray	ergomed@consilium-comms.com
Matthew Neal / Olivia Manser

 

 

About Ergomed plc

Ergomed provides specialist services to the pharmaceutical industry spanning all phases of clinical development, post-approval pharmacovigilance and medical information. Ergomed’s fast-growing services business includes an industry-leading suite of specialist pharmacovigilance (PV) solutions, integrated under the PrimeVigilance brand, a full range of high-quality clinical research and trial management services under the Ergomed brand (CRO), and an internationally recognised specialist expertise in orphan drug development, under PSR. For further information, visit: http://ergomedplc.com.

 

Forward-Looking Statements

 

Certain statements contained within the announcement are forward-looking statements and are based on current expectations, estimates and projections about the potential returns of Ergomed plc (Ergomed) and the industry and markets in which Ergomed operates, the Directors' beliefs and assumptions made by the Directors. Words such as "expects", "anticipates", "should", "intends", "plans", "believes", "seeks", "estimates", "projects", "pipeline" and variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements and expectations. These statements are not guarantees of future performance or the ability to identify and consummate investments and involve certain risks, uncertainties, outcomes of negotiations and due diligence and assumptions that are difficult to predict, qualify or quantify. Therefore, actual outcomes and results may differ materially from what is expressed in such forward-looking statements or expectations. Among the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially are: the general economic climate, competition, interest rate levels, loss of key personnel, the result of legal and commercial due diligence, the availability of financing on acceptable terms and changes in the legal or regulatory environment.

 

These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this announcement. Ergomed expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to disseminate any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in Ergomed’s expectations with regard thereto, any new information or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statements are based, unless required to do so by law or any appropriate regulatory authority.