Sysgroup Regulatory News (SYS)

21 May 2008 07:00



System C Healthcare plc ("System C" or "the Company")

Pre-Close Trading Update for the Year Ended 31 May 2008

System C (AIM:SYS), a leading provider of information solutions and services to the healthcare sector, is pleased to announce that it expects profit before tax for the financial year ending 31 May 2008 to be in the region of £3.2m, which is ahead of the top end of current market expectations. 

Services

During the year, the Company has increased its client base and is now well-established as a premier services business in healthcare IT. The services division expanded into London, giving the Company full national coverage for the first time. System C's long-term deployment partnerships with NHS Connecting for Health and the Local Services Provider CSC continue to progress well.

Products

The Company is also seeing growth in sales from its products division, which is benefiting from ongoing investment in its innovative product set. In addition, System C has recently announced that it has been awarded a four-year framework contract from NHS Connecting for Health (an 'Additional Supply Capability and Capacity' contract). ASCC contracts are designed to give healthcare providers a fast and easy route to procuring the Company's products and related services. The System C framework contract gives the Company a competitive advantage over many other suppliers in the market and is expected to underpin further growth in product sales for 2009/10 and beyond. The contract covers 16 key areas, including patient administration systems, emergency care, maternity systems, order communications and a wide range of clinical systems.

In November 2007, System C successfully implemented a major computerisation of the Isle of Man's hospital services, which included installing System C's patient administration system, emergency care and maternity system. This project went live on time and within budget and is an important and timely reference site for future sales under the ASCC contract and elsewhere. The Isle of Man Government will also receive further products from the Company over the next few years to implement their vision of an island-wide Community Care Support System (CCSS).

Acquisitions

The Company made two strategic acquisitions during the course of the year, both of which are providing the synergies anticipated. Care Records, acquired in January this year, has already won new contracts for clinical systems in London, the South West and Scotland. IQ Systems Services, acquired in July 2007, has provided a platform for significant product and services sales into the independent sector. The Company continues to review selective acquisition opportunities.

Outlook

Looking forward, System C has a substantial order book for products and services for 2009/10 and beyond, and the Board is confident of achieving continued growth. 

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Notes to editors 

System C Healthcare plc (http://www.systemc.com/), established in 1983, specialises in the provision of information systems and solutions to the healthcare sector. Its team of professionals has an average of 15 years' healthcare experience and can provide all aspects of systems design, development and deployment services. System C is founded upon the belief that IT solutions, when effectively implemented, can significantly contribute towards improving patient care.

System C is a specialist developer and supplier of Patient Administration and Electronic Patient Record Systems to the health service. The Group's MedWay product is successfully installed at a number of NHS hospitals including Noble's Hospital Isle of Man, University Hospitals Aintree, Swindon and Marlborough NHS Trust, Tameside Hospitals NHS Trust and the Christie, one of the UK's leading cancer hospitals.

System C has helped to install healthcare systems at over 150 NHS Trusts and offers a wide range of services to the NHS, other healthcare providers and third-party suppliers. Services include programme/project/change management, design, build and test, implementation, training, data migration, interfacing and helpdesk/support services. Within the National Programme for IT (NPfIT), System C people have been involved in 75% of secondary care go-lives to date as well as many GP, community, Single Assessment Programme and child health deployments.

System C hold NHS product and services framework contracts in the following categories:

Patient Administration Systems (PAS) 

Maternity systems 

Ambulance systems 

Urgent care (Accident and Emergency) 

Theatres 

Order communications and results reporting 

ePrescribing 

Pharmacy stock control 

Social care 

Integrated care pathways and care planning 

Diabetes 

Oncology services 

Clinical integration and systems integration services 

Respiratory care 

Elderly care 

Consultancy services