EKF Diagnostics flags budget-beating year

(ShareCast News) - Point-of-care business EKF Diagnostics Holdings announced on Monday that trading in the final quarter of the year ended 31 December was "materially better than budget", and that the overall performance for the year will exceed revised market forecasts, which themselves were recently upgraded following the trading update provided on 7 November.The AIM-traded company confirmed that it achieved revenues in excess of £38m for the year, compared to previous guidance of "at least £36.5m", and adjusted EBITDA comfortably exceeded £5.5m, compared to previous guidance of "at least £5.5m.It said the strong performance during the final quarter was entirely due to organic growth."In addition, the company announces that cash generation during the final quarter continued to be strong," EKF's board said in a statement."The company was net cash positive by the year end, and expects to remain cash positive in the first quarter of the 2017 financial year."EKF said it has used some of the cash generated during the final quarter to reduce its debt position by approximately £1.6m.