Growth through innovation and Elekta’s strategy within brachytherapy solutions highlighted at ASTRO Investor Meeting
“Cancer incidence and the need for cancer care are steadily growing and an important part of our growth strategy is to invest in innovation and product development. We are constantly developing our solutions targeting our customers and their patients’ needs. In emerging markets, the key is to make our solutions accessible and affordable for more patients. In mature markets, the focus is on improving and adding value with increased specialization and focus on disease-specific treatments”, said Elekta’s President and CEO, Tomas Puusepp.
He continued: “With our recent acquisition of Nucletron, we are strengthening our offering with brachytherapy and increasing our presence in many markets. Our global market share has now increased to approximately 35% of the global radiation therapy market”.
Puusepp reiterated Elekta’s strategy for sustainable profitable growth for the coming years, launched during the Capital Markets Day in June, 2011. In 2015, Elekta is foreseen to reach a revenue growth of 13-15 percent. Earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) is expected to show continued strong growth, helped by a decrease in SG&A from 22 to 19 percent of net sales. Earnings per share is expected to show an increase by more than 60 percent in 2015 and net debt to equity is expected to be below 0.5.
Jos Lamers, Executive Vice President, Elekta Brachytherapy Solutions, highlighted the current performance and the strategy going forward. “We are the global market leader with approximately 60 percent market share in brachytherapy. Within the Elekta group, we will focus on increasing the growth through leveraging the combined customer base of more than 6,000 customers, increasing presence especially in emerging markets, higher pace within innovation, targeting specific customer needs and driving awareness of the clinical advantages with brachytherapy. We are committed to increasing the growth to be in line with Elekta’s financial targets”.
Åsa Hedin, Executive Vice President, Elekta Neuroscience, described Elekta’s large number of research collaborations aimed to drive awareness and promote use of the Leksell Gamma Knife® and she reiterated good growth prospects going forward.
Dee Mathieson, Senior Vice President, Elekta Oncology, exemplified Elekta’s success in R&D by describing solutions for treatment of indications such as lung and prostate cancer.
“Radiotherapy techniques are becoming more sophisticated and the specialized treatment of specific indications are increasing in importance. The Clarity® with Autoscan* real-time soft tissue tracking is an example of this. It is designed to improve treatments for specific indications such as prostate cancer”. Mathieson also described the challenges in the treatment of, for example, lung cancer where motion management and accuracy are critical. Collaborations such as the Elekta Lung Research Group play an important role in developing solutions for improved treatments.
In addition, Dee Mathieson highlighted the recent progress regarding Elekta’s new Multileaf Collimator System (MLC), AgilityTM*. The system has been tested and has received impressive customer feedback.
Todd Powell, Executive Vice President, Elekta Software, presented the strategic direction within Elekta Software and said: “Our 400-person strong R&D organization is constantly working on developing best-in-class oncology software solutions and we are committed to further strengthening our global positions within software, especially in treatment planning. Our vision is to incorporate all our knowledge into a software platform, meeting all customer needs. Today we are demonstrating a preview of our first two modules in the MOSAIQ® RTP suite, namely Locate and Evaluate”.
Jay Hoey, Executive Vice President, North America, highlighted Elekta’s good progress in North America. “The main driver in the market is the replacement cycle. We have a strong position, confirming our good progress”.
Tomas Puusepp, President and CEO, concluded with a presentation of the outlook for the fiscal year 2011/12. “Net sales are expected to grow by more than 10% in local currency,” Puusepp said. “Also, our operating profit in SEK is expected to increase by more than 10%. The newly-acquired Elekta Brachytherapy Solutions will add net sales of SEK 850 M and EBIT of SEK 170 M. Non-recurring items are estimated to amount to SEK -170 M related to the integration of Nucletron and SEK 170 M for the divestment of the Pathology Information Systems business”.
*Agility and the Autoscan component are works in progress and not available for sale or distribution.
For questions, please contact:
Håkan Bergström, CFO, Elekta AB (publ)
+46 8 587 25 547, hakan.bergstrom@elekta.com
Stina Thorman, Vice President Corporate Communications, Elekta AB (publ)
+46 8 587 25 437, stina.thorman@elekta.com
Johan Andersson Melbi, Investor Relations Manager, Elekta AB (publ)
+46 702 100 451, johan.anderssonmelbi@elekta.com
The above information is such that Elekta AB (publ) shall make public in accordance with the Securities Market Act and/or the Financial Instruments Trading Act. The information was published at 19.00 CET on October 3, 2011.
About Elekta
Elekta is a human care company pioneering significant innovations and clinical solutions for treating cancer and brain disorders. The company develops sophisticated, state-of-the-art tools and treatment planning systems for radiation therapy, radiosurgery and brachytherapy, as well as workflow enhancing software systems across the spectrum of cancer care.
Stretching the boundaries of science and technology, providing intelligent and resource-efficient solutions that offer confidence to both healthcare providers and patients, Elekta aims to improve, prolong and even save patient lives.
Today, Elekta solutions in oncology and neurosurgery are used in over 6,000 hospitals worldwide. Elekta employs around 3,300 employees globally. The corporate headquarters is located in Stockholm, Sweden, and the company is listed on the Nordic Exchange under the ticker EKTAb.