EMIS grows as it plays its part in NHS IT strategy

EMIS, the GP and pharmacy software supplier, today said it is enjoying strong revenues but its profits for 2012 are likely to fall short of expectations as a result of the costs involved in the faster roll out of its services.

The Leeds-based group, which is playing a part in delivering the IT strategy of the NHS, said it expects revenues for the year to December 31 to be £86m, compared to £73.2m last year thanks to the accelerated expansion of its EMIS Web GP service and RX Systems, its community pharmacy division which allows doctors to send prescriptions electronically to pharmacists.

However the downside of this is that the higher staff and recruitment costs involved in the quicker roll out of the services combined with lower than planned revenues from an Australian defence contract, means that operating profits “will be marginally below analysts’ expectations”, it said.

EMIS increased its staff numbers by more than 100 in the second half of last year to 1,236 as part of the roll out of EMIS Web and also to capitalise on iSoft’s withdrawal from the primary care market.

The group said that capital expenditure doubled to £13m because of IT investment and its new head office while it had net cash of £7.7m on its balance sheet at the year end.

It will announce its final results on March 31.

Chief executive Sean Riddell, said: “2012 was a very busy year for EMIS Group. We accelerated the roll-out to GPs of EMIS Web, our transformational healthcare system, and RX Systems continued to grow its estate. EMIS enables an increasing number of healthcare professionals to use and share patient data in a secure, time efficient and cost-effective manner and we are excellently placed to play an integral part in delivering the IT strategy of the NHS.”

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