Wound care specialist Advanced Medical Solutions (AMS) has successfully reorganised itself into four business units and the group saw adjusted pre-tax profit rise by a decent 15 per cent year on year at the half-year stage to £6.2m - substantially driven by strong sales to third-party suppliers. But the US market is still proving difficult to crack.
At the operational level, the group's own-brand products business grew underlying revenue by 9 per cent to £11m - driven by demand from NHS hospitals for the ActivHeal range of wound care dressings. However, sales of wound sealant LiquiBand were lower in Germany than expected. Meanwhile, the distribution division, which supplies products to third parties that are sold under different brands, boosted revenues by 14 per cent to £10.7m - reflecting demand for silver alginate wound dressings. But progress in the US market is proving slow and the group's share of the large US hospital market remained flat at 4 per cent, with sales there only a modest 5 per cent higher at £3.5m. Nonetheless, management reckons that a new distributor there should deliver an improved performance in 2014.
Broker Canaccord expects full-year adjusted pre-tax profit of £13.5m, giving adjusted EPS of 5.1p (from £15.6m and 5.1p in 2012).
ADVANCED MEDICAL SOLUTIONS (AMS) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 90p | MARKET VALUE: | £186m | |
| TOUCH: | 89-90p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 93p | LOW: 54p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 0.6% | PE RATIO: | 17 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 39p* | NET DEBT: | 3% | |
| Half-year to 30 Jun | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 24.8 | 4.50 | 1.89 | 0.17 |
| 2013 | 27.4 | 6.00 | 2.53 | 0.19 |
| % change | +10 | +33 | +34 | +12 |
Ex-div: 2 Oct Payment: 1 Nov *Includes intangible assets of £52.6m, or 25p a share | ||||
