ASP.L Regulatory News (ASP)

10 Jan 2007 07:00

Ascribe plc10 January 2007 Press Release 10 January 2007 Ascribe plc ("Ascribe" or "the Group") Trading Update Ascribe plc (AIM:ASP), the health IT Group, is pleased to announce that thetrading performance for the six months ended 31 December 2006 was in line withmarket expectations and that the directors are confident about the prospects forthe full year. The Group is continuing to demonstrate robust growth and successful integrationof new acquisitions. All areas of the business are performing well and tradingin every division is ahead of last year. The Directors expect to maintainsignificant sales growth for the remainder of the year as the Group continues towin market share.Ascribe's Pharmacy Division has won several new health IT contracts in the firsthalf-year. These include the sale of Ascribe's Pharmacy Department andElectronic Prescribing solutions to: Addenbrookes Hospital; Mid-CheshireHospitals NHS Trust; Hereford Hospital NHS Trust; Tees, Esk & Wear Valleys NHSTrust; and Airedale Hospital. The division has also started to transfercustomers to its new web-based pharmacy solution and has made sales to:Derbyshire Mental Health Services in the UK; Tauranga & Whakatane Hospitals inNew Zealand's Bay of Plenty District Health Board; and the Northern Territories'Department of Health & Community Services in Australia. These contracts yieldrecurring maintenance income for a minimum period of between three and fiveyears, being the length of the initial contract, and enhance further thevisibility of the Group's earnings. Our Primary and Unscheduled Care Division has also won several new contractsincluding the sale of Accident & Emergency systems to Guy's & St Thomas'Hospital Trust, Hammersmith Hospitals NHS Trust and Antrim Hospital. We havealso secured an order from West Kent Primary Care Trust (PCT) for the provisionof a software system for the Urgent Care Centre operated by the PCT at theDarent Valley Hospital, part of the Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust. As withour Pharmacy Division, some of these contracts include maintenance income forfive-year periods. Ascribe's Mental Health and Community Care division has continued to build uponthe new business opportunities secured when its 'messaging engine' was approvedby Connecting for Health. In addition to this, we have received significant newbusiness through recent acquisitions; sales of our mental health & communitycare solutions are performing well with orders placed by Central & North WestLondon and Vision Australia in December. Our Electronic Patient Record division, formed from the newly acquired HEInformation Systems and Barwick Systems, has similarly performed well and addedvalue to our order book and new sales. In this half year, orders have beenplaced by the Hospital NHS Trusts for Royal Bournemouth & Christchurch, CountyDurham & Darlington, Bradford, Poole, Papworth and South Tees. With recurring maintenance contract revenues in excess of 60 per cent of sales,a healthy order book and a continuing high level of tendering activity - both inthe UK and overseas - the Board expects that Ascribe will continue to perform inline with expectations in the second half of the financial year, ending 30 June2007. Stephen Critchlow, Executive Chairman of Ascribe, said: "Having broadened thesolutions that we offer using our integrated platform, I am pleased to reportthat this has been our best half-year so far for new orders. In December alone,we took orders for over £3.3 million. "We are now benefiting from three key influences: firstly, the consolidated andexpanded management of the Group; secondly, we have seen a shift in the last sixmonths towards local purchasing of healthcare IT solutions in the UK, furtherbroadening our opportunities; and thirdly, we have seen significant growth inorders from our overseas customers." "We are now able to demonstrate our ability to be a dominant player in HealthIT; this stems directly from our reputation for delivering robust products andfocusing upon the needs of the clinician at the point of care. I am pleased toreport that our order book is strong and the Board expects to deliver anothergood result for the full year." The interim results for the period to 31 December 2006 are expected to beannounced on 21 March 2007. - Ends - For further information, please contact:Ascribe plcStephen Critchlow, Executive Chairman Tel: +44 (0) 8700 53 45 45stephen.critchlow@ascribe.com www.ascribe.com Media enquiries:AbchurchJustin Heath / Stephanie Cuthbert Tel: +44 (0) 20 7398 7700stephanie.cuthbert@abchurch-group.com www.abchurch-group.com Notes to editors Ascribe plc is a leading healthcare company that develops and markets softwaresolutions supporting patient, clinical and business processes to Primary &Secondary healthcare providers in the UK and overseas. Ascribe is committed to providing technologies that improve patient safetystandards and the company's solutions directly improve patient care and deliverfinancial savings to customers. The group sells directly to hospitals andPrimary Care Trusts rather than through centrally driven political initiatives. The Group provides solutions to clinical professionals in all healthcaresectors; customers include Emergency and Minor Injuries Units, Mental Health andSocial Care Units, Hospitals requiring patient administration systems (PAS) andmedical equipment management, Hospital and Retail Pharmacies, and GeneralPractice surgeries. Offering patient and decision support information to theseclinicians in context with their activity is the key to the company's ongoingsuccess. Ascribe plc was floated on AIM in 2004, and currently employs over 200 personnelthrough its seven operating companies in the UK, Hong Kong, Kenya, Australia andNew Zealand. For more information, please visit www.ascribe.com. (c) Ascribe 2007. Ascribe is a registered trademark of Ascribe plc. All otherbrands and product names and trademarks are the registered property of theirrespective companies. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange