Agfa HealthCare sees downtick in sales for Q1
While the economic slowdown impacted Agfa-Gevaert's graphics and specialty products division for the first quarter of 2009, Agfa HealthCare performed "in line with the company's expectations," with only a 1 percent decline in sales.
For the quarter, the healthcare segment booked net sales of €291 million (U.S. $380 million), compared with €294 million ($384 million) in the same period last year.
The company said that although the markets for x-ray film and hardcopy film "evolved in line with the trend of previous quarters, due to the economic crisis, some care organizations are postponing their investments in CR equipment."
Despite this, imaging IT and enterprise IT "performed markedly better than in the first months of 2008," Agfa said.
Consumable margins suffered from "production inefficiencies" due to the lower use of the group's production capacity, the company said. SG&A expenses were reduced by €10 million in the first quarter of 2009, compared with the same quarter last year.
As a result, recurring earning before interest, tax and amortization (EBITDA) amounted to €39 million ($51 million), or 13.4 percent of sales, for the 2009 first quarter. Recurring EBIT improved by 51.8 percent to €25.5 million ($33.3 million), or 8.8 percent of sales, Agfa said.
For the quarter, the healthcare segment booked net sales of €291 million (U.S. $380 million), compared with €294 million ($384 million) in the same period last year.
The company said that although the markets for x-ray film and hardcopy film "evolved in line with the trend of previous quarters, due to the economic crisis, some care organizations are postponing their investments in CR equipment."
Despite this, imaging IT and enterprise IT "performed markedly better than in the first months of 2008," Agfa said.
Consumable margins suffered from "production inefficiencies" due to the lower use of the group's production capacity, the company said. SG&A expenses were reduced by €10 million in the first quarter of 2009, compared with the same quarter last year.
As a result, recurring earning before interest, tax and amortization (EBITDA) amounted to €39 million ($51 million), or 13.4 percent of sales, for the 2009 first quarter. Recurring EBIT improved by 51.8 percent to €25.5 million ($33.3 million), or 8.8 percent of sales, Agfa said.