Durrant Pate/Contributor

Image Plus Consultants has returned a more than commendable financial out-turn for its nine-month performance ended November 2022, with profits already exceeding the comparable period in 2021/2022.

The company, which trades as Apex Radiology, made a pre-tax profit of J$179.7 million for the period under review compared to J$179.6 million for the full financial year of 2021/22, which includes adjustment for directors’ fees paid of J$66.5 million. The J$179.7 million profitability for the year-to-date is an increase of 163.9 per cent over the comparative period in the prior year.

This latest quarterly report is the first for Apex since going public earlier this month, setting a history with the largest issuance of shares for a junior market company at $495.78 million.

Commenting on the financial out-turn, the management says this, “performance is anticipated to continue on this path and the directors remain optimistic about the performance outlook given the strategic plans that the team continues to execute. Prudent management remains a focus so that the company continues to perform even with the potential for economic changes in the short term. “

At end of the November third quarter, the company’s assets stood at J$651.5 million, up from the J$391 million reported for the first nine months of 2021/22. The assets have grown by J$204.1 million while the liabilities went up by J$55.7 million.

Expansion taking place

In addition to the new fluoroscopy unit acquired in November 2022, Apex Radiology has re-located its Ocho Rios operations to a new larger space in White River North Commercial Complex. The company invested in leasehold improvements at the new location to meet service delivery needs.

With almost double the square footage, the new Ocho Rios branch now has accommodations for increased patient volumes and the new modalities of mammography and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI); both to be offered starting in the upcoming 2023/24 financial year.

For the current period, trade receivables have more than double the comparative 2021/22 figure given the increased volume of business in non-cash related payer settlements.

In its quarterly report to shareholders, the board reports, “management continues to actively manage these receivables and there has been improvement in the ageing profile. As opportunity allows the company has optimised cash in hand and made financial investments.”

At J$802.8 million revenues at the end of nine months have now exceeded revenues for the full 2021/2022 financial year and reflect growth of J$247.9 million in revenue since the second quarter. Year over year for the comparative period, there has been a 43.7 per cent increase in revenues.

‘Slowing’ rate of growth

However, the management is admitting that “the rate of revenue growth slowed somewhat since Q2 as a result of the Ocho Rios relocation exercise (all operations at that branch were closed for four days whilst CT and X-ray services were down for an additional seven days when the branch reopened as we awaited relocation of the three-phase power supply required to operate these units). Management is confident that the move and resulting downtime is an investment that will redound significantly to the benefit of all stakeholders in the months ahead.”

Despite this downtime, the company’s case count remains very healthy at 40,949 representing a year-to-date increase of over 17 per cent compared to the comparative period in the prior year. The number of cases at nine months represents 88.3 per cent of the full financial year 2021/22 case count. Expenses grew 12.7 per cent over the last financial year driven by higher-than-normal costs in the third quarter.

In the main, these costs were associated with one-off marketing expenditure for the re-printing of all billboards, directional and office signs for the Ocho Rios branch. Traditionally too, third-quarter costs are expected to be a little higher as we have expenditure associated with referring physician appreciation and end-of-year performance incentives for team members.