ASP.L Regulatory News (ASP)

26 Oct 2005 07:00

Ascribe plc26 October 2005 26th October 2005 Ascribe plc: Annual General Meeting Board appointments and trading update Ascribe plc, the health IT group focusing on medicines management, will todayannounce at its Annual General Meeting the following of board appointments andthe strengthening of its management team. Stephen Critchlow, current Chief Executive is appointed as Executive Chairmanand Graham Lewis joins Ascribe as Chief Executive Officer, with immediateaffect. Graham Lewis, aged 48, has worked in the healthcare industry for over 27 years.After training as an engineer with GEC Medical he joined Siemens in 1979, wherehis role involved business development within the burgeoning PFI market andresponsibility for establishing Siemens Healthcare Services. In 1999 Graham wasappointed Chief Executive Officer of Metier Healthcare, a joint venture betweenSiemens, Bouyges and Charterhouse, from which he was then appointed ManagingDirector of Siemens Healthcare Services Limited. Since 2002 Graham has beenChief Executive of the publicly quoted interactive healthcare group, Ultrasisplc. Chris Moore, who was recently appointed Executive Chairman of Torex Retail plc,will remain non-executive director but has indicated his intention to step downfrom the board on Friday 16th December 2005, the first anniversary of Ascribeplc's admission to the AIM market. He will remain a strategic consultant to thegroup. In accordance with good corporate governance, the Board of Ascribe plc will seekto appoint another non-executive director in due course. Ascribe also announces that the company's trading performance in the firstquarter of the financial year was in line with management expectations and thatthe Directors remain confident for the year as a whole. The Group is winning neworders in each of its three operating divisions by: • converting additional NHS trusts to Ascribe's existing product portfolio; • enlarging the user licenses for existing clients; and • driving the sale of new products to new and existing customers. The Group continues to win market share with orders to install new departmentalPharmacy and A&E solutions with NHS Trusts. Ascribe's Substance Misuse softwarehas been ordered by two new customers and the sales team is addressing theconsiderable interest shown in this product by other primary care clinics aroundthe country. In addition Ascribe's intravenous pharmacy solution and a two-wayrobotic dispensing interface system has been ordered by Pharmacy customers. Newsystems have been installed and launched at Calderdale & Huddersfield,Wolverhampton and the Christie Hospitals. Our Mental Health & Community Care division is also continuing to widen its userbase with another two major customers extending their licenses to encompass morefield-based health professionals utilising their healthcare communicationssolutions. The Primary and Unscheduled Care Division has won another order forits Symphony A&E software from a NHS Trust in the south of England. Stephen Critchlow, Executive Chairman, Ascribe plc said: "Ascribe's first year as a quoted company has been very successful, not only interms of profitability but also in developing the business into a formidableforce within the UK healthcare IT market. We are now at the next stage ofstrategic positioning and corporate development, with the increased need forgreater management strength, and therefore we are delighted to welcome Graham onboard. He has a wealth of managerial and business experience from the healthcaresector, which will prove invaluable to us in the forthcoming years. Today's trading statement highlights the continued progress that the Group ismaking in winning market share and widening the usage of Ascribe's products byhealth professionals. Satisfying the market demand for solutions to improvehealth is the driver to the growth that the Group is experiencing. Chris Moore joined us to oversee the company's development into a publiclyquoted entity, a market leading company, with an excellent product strategy andgreat potential in the high growth medicines management sector. With the arrivalof Graham, he remains confident that the right team is in place to drive thegroup forward and build on Ascribe's success. On behalf of the Board I wouldpersonally like to thank Chris for all his commitment and assistance during thisimportant phase of Ascribe's corporate development. We are pleased that we willcontinue to benefit from his advice as a strategic consultant to the group." Contacts: Ascribe plcStephen CritchlowExecutive Chairman Tel: +44 (0) 161 280 8080 Citigate Dewe RogersonGinny Pulbrook / Justin Griffiths Tel: +44 (0) 207 638 9571 Notes to Editors: Graham Lewis Save as disclosed below, there is nothing further to disclose in relation toGraham Lewis' appointment under schedule two, paragraph (g) of the AIM Rules. Past directorships: Ultrasis PLCUltrasis UK LimitedUltramind LimitedUltrasis Group LimitedUltrasis (North America) LimitedCALM Corporation (UK) LimitedUltramind Group PlcEmpress LimitedUltrasis Calm LimitedCalmnet.com LimitedH.E. Information Services LimitedEvenements LimitedMetier Healthcare LimitedMetier Holdings LimitedSiemens Healthcare Services Limited About Ascribe plc Ascribe plc is a leading health IT group focusing on medicines managementthrough the development and marketing of software solutions supporting patient,clinical and business processes to the international healthcare market. TheGroup's clients extend from the UK and Ireland to Hong Kong, Malaysia, Australiaand New Zealand. The Group consists of four IT solution companies with proven healthcareexperience: ASC Computer Software Ltd, Protechnic Exeter Ltd, Footman-WalkerAssociates Ltd and Park Systems Ltd. These companies now operate as threesolution-based divisions: • Pharmacy - providing software for both hospital-based and retail pharmacies; • Mental Health & Community Care - addressing the healthcare communication needs of patient assessment and resource allocation; and • Primary and Unscheduled Care - meeting the IT communications & resource allocation requirements for GP surgeries, Accident & Emergency departments and minor injuries units. The software produced by the group is geared to saving lives by providingenhanced communication between healthcare decision makers and the patientsthemselves. The group addresses the calls made by the Audit Commission's report,'A Spoonful of Sugar', published in 2001, which identified potentially up to1,200 lives and £500m per year from certain medication errors in UK hospitalsalone, which could be saved using clinical information systems. Ascribe joined the AIM market on 17th December 2004 raising £5.5m beforeexpenses. The company's annual report, for the year ending 30th June 2005, waspublished in September 2005 and can be downloaded as a pdf file from thecompany's website. For more information, please visit www.ascribe.com This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange