ASP.L Regulatory News (ASP)

17 Jan 2006 07:00

Ascribe plc17 January 2006 Ascribe plc ("Ascribe" or "the Group") Trading Update Ascribe (AIM:ASP), the health IT Group focusing on medicines management, ispleased to announce that the trading performance for the six months ended 31December 2005 was in line with market expectations and that the directors areconfident about the prospects for the full year. The integration of all of the Group's acquisitions has been highly encouragingand trading in every division is ahead of the comparable prior year level. Thedirectors expect to maintain significant sales growth for the remainder of theyear as the Group continues to win additional market share. Ascribe's Pharmacy Division has won several new health IT contracts in the firsthalf. These include the sale of Ascribe's pharmacy or electronic prescribingsoftware to North Cumbria Hospital, Avon & Wiltshire, Harrogate & DistrictHospital, Ealing Hospital, St Vincent's Hospital Dublin and North Lincolnshire &Goole Hospital. These contracts yield recurring maintenance income for aminimum period of between three and seven years being the length of the initialcontract and illustrates the clear visibility of future earnings. Our Primary and Unscheduled Care Division has also won several new contractsincluding the sale of Accident & Emergency systems to Rotherham GeneralHospital, Brighton and Sussex University Hospital, Mid Essex Hospital, andTemple Street Children's Hospital Dublin. In addition, Ascribe's Mental Health and Community Care division has achieved asignificant level of new product sales and continued to increase license salesto its existing user base. Ascribe continues to support Connecting for Health'sChoose & Book initiative by upgrading its Mental Health software in compliancewith national guidelines. 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 June2006. Stephen Critchlow, Executive Chairman of Ascribe, said: "We are pleased to beable to report a strong start to the year with many new customers ordering andgoing live across the Group. With a strong order book and significantprospects, we expect to deliver another good result for the full year. The keyto our ongoing success is continually delivering on our customers' expectations,providing a genuine improvement to their healthcare provision." The interim results for the period to 31 December 2005 are expected to beannounced on 15 March 2006. - Ends - For further information: Stephen Critchlow, Executive ChairmanTel: +44 (0) 161 280 8080Email: stephen.critchlow@ascribe.com Graham Lewis, Chief Executive OfficerTel: +44 (0) 161 280 8080Email: graham.lewis@ascribe.com Ginny Pulbrook/ Justin Griffiths, Citigate Dewe RogersonTel: +44 (0) 20 7638 9571 Notes to Editors: About Ascribe plc Ascribe plc is a leading healthcare company that develops and markets softwaresolutions supporting patient, clinical and business processes to theinternational healthcare market. The Group provides solutions to Emergency andMinor Injuries units, Mental Health and Social Care units, Hospital and RetailPharmacies, and General Practice surgeries. The Group consists of: ASC Computer Software Ltd, Protechnic Exeter Ltd,Footman-Walker Associates Ltd & Park Systems Ltd. Ascribe plc was floated on AIM in 2004, and currently employs 150 personnelthough its four market leading companies in the UK, Hong Kong, Malaysia,Australia and New Zealand. For more information, please visit http://www.ascribe.com This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange