A slowdown in hospital spending was cited as one of the reasons for a decline in revenue growth at film and PACS vendor Agfa HealthCare of Mortsel, Belgium, with the division posting 2004 first-quarter (end-March 31) sales of 292 million euros ($345 million, U.S.).
This represents a decline of 13.9% (or 7% excluding exchange-rate effects) compared with the 339 million euros ($400 million) in sales posted in the same period of 2003.
The healthcare division’s operating profit sagged 45.4% compared with the same period last year, decreasing to 36.4 million euros ($43 million) from 66.7 million euros ($79 million). The division’s return on sales also dropped to 12.5% compared with 19.7% for the first quarter of 2003.
The firm noted that revenues in both March and April are fully on track, and the company said it believes the healthcare division will continue to grow and perform strongly.
In other news, Agfa said that Ruwaard van Putten Hospital, Spijkenisse, the Netherlands, has decided to install Agfa CR and RIS/PACS products. In addition, the facility has named Agfa as its preferred supplier for the implementation of a hospital-wide medical information management solution, Agfa said.
By AuntMinnie.com staff writersMay 13, 2004
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Agfa partners with Network Appliance, April 28, 2004
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Agfa nets UK cardiac Impax install, April 8, 2004
Agfa, Evolved partner on Texas hospital RIS/PACS, April 1, 2004
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