Earnings of Alliance Healthcare surged 635.1% to $2.3 million in FY2020 ended June 30, from the $0.3 million posted a year ago. The latest full-year results is a first for the company which went public at 20 cents a share on May 31 2019.
On a fully diluted basis, this translates to earnings per share of 1.12 cents in FY2020 compared to 0.15 cents in the previous year end.
The improved performance follows a 17.2% increase in its revenue to $42.8 million in FY2020, thanks to higher income from its pharmaceutical services segment which benefitted from hospitals’ stock piling of medical supplies to meet demand and in preparation of supply chain disruptions.
The maiden contribution from its mobile and digital health services aided in lifting its income.
However, a further surge in income was prevented by lower takings for its managed healthcare and GP clinics services, due to the lower patient load volumes brought on by the measures to curb the spread of Covid-19 infections.
Still, GP clinics was the largest contributor to the group’s income at 36.3%.
Contributions from the other segments stood at: 28.7% for pharmaceutical services, 20.9% for specialist services, 11.4% for managed healthcare solutions and 2.7% for mobile and digital services.
In this time, employee benefits expenses increased by $2.5 million or 13.3% to $21.1 million due to more benefits conferred and an increase in salaries and defined contribution plan.
Meanwhile, depreciation and amortisation expenses surged 189.5% to $2.4 million due to the adoption of the SFRS(I) 16 accounting standard which brought on a $1.5 million expense from depreciation of right-of-use assets.
Similarly, finance costs expanded by 112.8% to $279,000 from a lease interest expense of $125,000 incurred from the adoption of the accounting standard and an interest expense on a loan taken from UOB to facilitate the acquisition of Jaga-Me.
As at June 30, cash and cash equivalents stood at $16.3 million, up from $14.3 million a year ago.
Overall, the group’s profit before tax increased by 139.8% or $1.7 million to $3.0 million in FY2020. Excluding its $1.2 million in IPO-related expenses incurred in its FY2019 ended June 2019, the group estimates its profit before tax would have increased by $0.5 million.
The group has proposed a first and final dividend of 0.34 cents, to be paid out in November. This gives it a pay-out ratio of 30%.
Dr Barry Thng, Executive Chairman and CEO of Alliance Healthcare says he is “extremely proud of our whole team, especially our doctors and front-line workers who kept our clinics open and provided quality patient care through these unprecedented times.”
“FY2020 was an exceptional year and we achieved profit despite the challenges presented by the COVID-19 global pandemic,” he adds.
Going forward, Alliance Healthcare is looking to strengthen its telemedicine platform to meet patients’ demand for higher levels of efficiencies and personalization through smartphone technologies.
“The current crisis has demonstrated the relevance of telemedicine and created an opening to digital care delivery system,” notes Dr. Thng.
“With the growing demand for virtual healthcare, the Group needs to continue to build capabilities at scale and deliver distinctive quality care to consumers”.
As at 12.29pm, shares of Alliance Healthcare were up a cent or 5.6% to 19 cents.
