Emis reports increase in revenue

The Leeds-based group said it has maintained its leading position in the UK GP market, increasing its market share by 1 per cent to 57 per cent.

It has reached a settlement with NHS Digital over legacy issues, which was within the £11.2m provision previously announced and said it is well positioned for the pre-procurement phase of the GP IT Futures bid for primary care.

Emis said it received an exceptional release of £1.7m so it ended up with a £9.5m settlement.

In December, the Health Secretary Matt Hancock said that the current market is dominated by two main providers, which slows down innovation and traps GP practices in long-term contracts with systems that are not suited to the digital age.

In response, Andy Thorburn, inset, chief executive of Emis Group, said he doesn’t think that is the case.

“The NHS is looking for innovation. The Secretary of State’s agenda is to drive more efficiency. We agree with that,” he said.

He added that he was pleased with the overall results for the group in his first full year as CEO.

“I think we’ve come up with a good set of results. The business performed well, with good revenue growth in the period and profit in line with market expectations, supported by growing revenues across all our key segments,” he said.

“We maintained our track record of high levels of recurring revenue, good cash generation and an increased dividend, and the group is well positioned for future growth. We worked hard throughout the year to improve our service and responsiveness to our loyal customers.”

He said that 2018 was a year of preparation to take the business to the next stage, with strong foundations in place, the resolution of legacy issues and setting out its roadmap of innovative new technology solutions.

GP IT Futures is to replace the current framework agreement for GP Systems of Choice, used to procure GP software systems in the UK.

The £450m framework is designed to encourage innovation and interoperability in the market.

“The group is currently engaged and, we believe, well positioned in the pre-procurement phase of the GP IT Futures process and we anticipate the formal procurement will begin shortly,” said Mr Thorburn.

“We’ve been in dialogue with the customer for a year. We’re well placed because we’ve been looking at the priorities set out by NHS England.

“We’ve aligned our roadmaps with theirs for some time. We are well positioned.”

Emis said that one of the key market growth drivers is the NHS Long Term Plan, published in January.

The plan sets out the most pressing challenges and priorities facing the NHS over the next 10 years.

The group said it clearly outlines that investment in technology will enable the ambitions of the plan to be realised, also highlighting a drive to upgrade technology and provide digitally enabled care across the NHS.

Emis finance director Peter Southby said the company has always had strong recurring revenues because it has got long-term contractual arrangements in place.

“These last four to five years. Our software is very neatly embedded in their operations so we have a very low churn rate,” he said.