Healthcare at Home reports upbeat results
Healthcare services and medical supplies firm Healthcare at Home Limited has reported substantial growth for the year ended 31 October 2009.

Turnover stood at £675m, a 26% increase on the previous year, while gross profit rose from £43.5m to £52.9m and operating profit soared by £5m to stand at £17.8m. The reason for the high turnover and relatively low profit can be put down to the fact that the company’s core business is drug distribution to home patients, with little or no service content, and margins are very thin for this type of operation. Healthcare at Home has won some large scale distribution contracts recently (for example Enbrel, a rheumatoid arthritis drug for £120-130m) which gives a big boost in revenue but does not deliver much more in profit.

The company’s balance sheet at year-end also showed debtors outstripping short term creditors, with the company boasting £19.5m cash in hand. Shareholders’ funds also rocketed from £43.9m to £60.8m.

However, despite the buoyant results, the company’s directors once again recommended against a dividend payment to shareholders. In a statement, the firm said that budget cuts in the offing could produce more opportunities: ‘The current drive to reduce public spending is expected to bring further opportunities for additional cost efficient service provision to the NHS.’



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