LiDCO moves into profit

The basis of LiDCO ’s growth story is that its minimal-invasive blood pressure and flow monitors can reduce the time a person is in hospital (notably the elderly) from between two and 12 days. Not surprisingly the cash-strapped NHS is keen on such systems. A report last December estimated there are 800,000 UK patients a year who would benefit from this advanced monitoring but less than 10 per cent were actually receiving it. It was also claimed that monitoring could save the NHS up to £400m a year.

LiDCO is not the largest player in this market but seems reasonably well placed. The feature of the latest results was a 36 per cent jump in higher-margin disposable revenue to £5m, including £1.2m from distributing Japanese catheters. Good sales were also necessary because the number of monitors installed in the year dropped from 524 to 364 – making a total of nearly 2,200 – while US sales fell sharply due to order timing difficulties with the company's US distributor.

However, Lidco still delivered a maiden profit, albeit with the help of a tax credit. Broker finnCap reckons that a combination of NHS demand, better order phasing in the US and new non-invasive products will push 2012-13 sales up to £8.9m and produce adjusted pre-tax profits of £300,000. Net cash balances remain healthy enough even though year-end stock levels rose to acquire extra monitor components.

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