Scale, innovation leadership and transformation in focus at Elekta’s Capital Markets Day
Elekta’s new President and CEO from June 10, Richard Hausmann, introduced himself and said that he was “very much looking forward to leading this innovative company through the transformation and beyond.” He expressed his strong belief in the MR-linac project, which he called “impressive and very well engineered.”
Tomas Puusepp, President and CEO until June 9, stated how the first year of Elekta’s transformation program has strengthened the company’s competitiveness: “We are quickly becoming a leaner company with an improved financial performance and a clear focus on high growth areas: service, software and image guided radiation therapy.”
Ian Alexander, Chief Commercial Officer (CCO), spoke of the potential made possible by scaling Elekta’s service business: offering stable recurring revenues at limited capital investment and improved profitability. “Service continues to offer good growth potential in many markets, including mature markets. In emerging markets, the service share of total revenues is about 15 percent. Our ambition is to grasp these opportunities as part of Elekta’s transformational process.”
Håkan Bergström, Chief Financial Officer, stated that the transformation process is on track. He reconfirmed the target to reach an EBITA margin of 20 percent by fiscal year 2017/18. Cost reductions of SEK 700* million, with full effect in fiscal year 2017/18, are expected to be met as planned. Net working capital to sales ratio is already below the five percent target. For the first half of fiscal year 2016/17, the company expects a one-off negative revenue effect of SEK 500 million due to the change to producing to order, and therefore a weak result for the first half of the year.
Elekta’s recently appointed Chief Technology Officer, John Lapré, focused on capitalizing on the company’s innovation leadership, while setting the strategic portfolio priorities and driving customer satisfaction. “Already today, Elekta offers the most precise solutions in our industry, which is essential to achieving good patient outcome when treating cancer. With MR-linac, the precision will be significantly enhanced, enabling the start of a new era of treating cancer. This research project, developed with a consortium and other partners, is on track for commercial launch in 2017.”
Doctor Stella Mook, Radiation Oncologist at University Medical Center Utrecht (UMC Utrecht), the Netherlands, is involved in research regarding MR-linac. She demonstrated how esophageal cancer treatment could totally change with MR-linac. She said that more than 100 professors, doctors, physicists and students at UMC Utrecht are involved in research related to MR-linac.
*With fiscal year 2015/16 as base, excluding currency effects.
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For further information, please contact:
Johan Andersson, Director, Investor Relations, Elekta AB
Tel: +46 702 100 451, e-mail: johan.andersson@elekta.com
Time zone: CET: Central European Time
Tobias Bülow, Director Financial Communication, Elekta AB
Tel: +46 722 215 017, e-mail: tobias.bulow@elekta.com
Time zone: CET: Central European Time
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 13:30 CET on June 9, 2016.
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 health care 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 3,800 employees globally. The corporate headquarters is located in Stockholm, Sweden, and the company is listed on NASDAQ Stockholm. Website: www.elekta.com.