Agfa HealthCare posted fourth-quarter net sales of 407 million euros ($484.6 million U.S.), up 6.5% compared with the 382 million euros ($454.6 million) booked during the fourth quarter of 2004. For the period (end-December 31), the Mortsel, Belgium-based vendor had earnings of 65.6 million euros ($78.1 million), compared with 56 million euros ($66.7 million) last year.
The sales gains were driven mainly by growth in IT as a result of the firm's acquisitions, Agfa said. IT contributed 34% of the group's sales in the fourth quarter, compared with 23% in the fourth quarter of 2004.
For the year, Agfa's health division posted net sales of 1.41 billion euros ($1.67 billion), up 3.2% compared with the 1.361 billion euros ($1.62 billion) turned in during 2004. The firm had earnings of 138 million euros ($164.3 million), down 28.5% compared with the 192.9 million euros ($229.7 million) posted in 2004.
Agfa said that the increasing share of IT in its portfolio will lead to a more pronounced seasonality in its results. While IT sales will continue to grow, film products are expected to decrease further as a result of the healthcare market's transition to filmless systems, according to the firm.
Agfa said it plans to accelerate the international rollout of its Orbis hospital-wide IT offering, as well as address the growing imaging center market via the launch of a new entry-level CR digitizer, as well as more cooperation with dealer networks.
By AuntMinnie.com staff writers
March 10, 2006
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