GROUP REVENUES UP 21.9%
ACCELERATED BACKLOG CONVERSION IN PROTON THERAPY AND OTHER ACCELERATORS
STRONG GROSS MARGIN IMPROVEMENT AND BREAKEVEN REBIT
Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium, 29 August 2024 - IBA (Ion Beam Applications S.A), the world leader in particle accelerator technology, today announces its consolidated results for the first half of 2024.
Financial summary
- Group H1 revenues increased by 21.9% to EUR 206.5 million (H1 2023: EUR 169.4 million), driven by accelerated backlog conversion and increasing Services revenues across all businesses
- Gross margin increased to 33.8%, up from 26.6% last year, driven in particular by an increase in the proportion of Other Accelerators revenues, improvement of project cost estimates and better margin mix in Proton Therapy (PT)
- Group REBIT of EUR 0.04 million, a strong improvement on the same period last year, reflecting a combination of backlog conversion, improvement in gross margin and the uptick in Services revenues
- Group order intake of EUR 113.9 million; of which PT was EUR 34.9 million, Other Accelerators was EUR 47.5 million and Dosimetry was EUR 31.5 million
- Strong acceleration of backlog conversion, but with equipment and upgrade backlog still standing at EUR 715 million (FY 2023: EUR 720 million). Overall Group Equipment and Services backlog remains high at EUR 1.4 billion
- Both PT and Other Accelerators Services revenues grew 8.8%
- Total Group net loss of EUR 10.3 million (H1 2023: EUR 27.3 million loss)
- Healthy balance sheet, with EUR 60.2 million gross cash and EUR 21.7 million net cash position. Cash position reflects strong procurement and backlog conversion activity over the period. EUR 60 million undrawn short-term credit lines available at period end
- Mid-term guidance reiterated
Business summary
- 14 Other Accelerators systems sold in H1, a significant increase on the previous year (H1 2023: 8 systems)
- One Proteus®ONE[1] system sold in H1 to Connecticut Proton Therapy Center (H1 2023: Two Proteus®ONE systems and one Proteus®PLUS1 system) and a partial Proteus®PLUS1 equipment batch sold to CGN
- Post-period, memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed for two Proteus®ONE proton therapy solutions with the University of Pennsylvania Health System
- 35 PT projects under construction or installation at the end of the period with good progress on major Spanish and Chinese projects
- Strong Industrial Solutions performance, with excellent backlog conversion and growing Services revenue
- Dosimetry acquisition completed of California-based RadCal Corporation, specialists in medical imaging Quality Assurance
- IBA and SCK CEN’s joint venture PanTera secured four commercial agreements for early supply of actinium-225 (225Ac) in a highly active market
- B Corp certification renewed during the period, with a significantly improved score of 114 points (2021: 90 points), placing the Group among the top 10% of those certified globally
Olivier Legrain, Chief Executive Officer of IBA, commented: “In the first half of the year, we have made excellent progress with the acceleration of backlog conversion. Other Accelerators has had a particularly strong first half, with a high number of systems sold, strong backlog conversion and growing Services revenues. In the Proton Therapy division, alongside the accelerated delivery of projects, there was an uptick in margins as project costs stabilized after last year’s high inflation.
“While the Dosimetry business was affected during the period by scheduled timing impacts, with slower backlog conversion in the first half and some market effects, we are expecting this to accelerate in the second half of the year, boosted also by the acquisition of RadCal. We are also pleased with the strong progress made by our joint venture PanTera, which is seeking to address the global supply shortage of actinium-225.
“Following the encouraging first half, our strong pipeline across all business units underpins our confidence for the remainder of the year and we expect a second half weighting of financial performance. Looking further ahead, we continue to reshape our businesses and provide them with more accountability in order to capitalize on future growth opportunities while safeguarding our core values across IBA. We are committed to delivering strong results as we continue to innovate to serve our customers in all four businesses. Alongside this, we remain confident on delivering our mid-term guidance with strong progress already being made towards meeting our targets.”
***ENDS***
Olivier Legrain, Chief Executive Officer, Henri de Romrée, Deputy Chief Executive Officer and Soumya Chandramouli, Chief Financial Officer, will host a conference call and webcast to present the Interim results, followed by a Q&A session.
The conference call will be held on Thursday, 29 August 2024 at 3pm CEST / 2pm BST / 9am EDT / 6am PDT as a Teams webinar and can be accessed via this link.
If you would like to join by phone only, please dial (Phone conference ID 533 540 829#)
Belgium: +32 2 890 97 20
UK: +44 20 3321 5200
NL: +31 20 708 6901
LU: +352 27 87 00 02
US: +1 347-991-7591
FR: +33 1 70 99 53 51
The presentation will be available on IBA’s investor relations website and on:
https://www.iba-worldwide.com/iba-half-year-2024-results-presentation-and-press-release shortly before the call.
To ensure a timely connection, it is recommended that users register at least 10 minutes prior to the scheduled webcast.
For participants who do not have the Teams application installed, please follow the process described in this link to access the conference.
Financial calendar
Business Update Q3 2024 21 November 2024
Full Year Results 2024 20 March 2025
Capital Markets Day Q2 2025
Business Update First Quarter 2025 22 May 2025
Annual General Meeting 11 June 2025
Half Year Results 2025 28 August 2025
About IBA
IBA (Ion Beam Applications S.A.) is the world leader in particle accelerator technology. The company is the leading supplier of equipment and services in the field of proton therapy, considered to be the most advanced form of radiation therapy available today. IBA is also a leading player in the fields of industrial sterilization, radiopharmaceuticals and dosimetry. The company, based in Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium, employs approximately 2,000 people worldwide. IBA is a certified B Corporation (B Corp) meeting the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance.
IBA is listed on the pan-European stock exchange EURONEXT (IBA: Reuters IBAB.BR and Bloomberg IBAB.BB). More information can be found at: www.iba-worldwide.com
[1] Proteus®ONE and Proteus®PLUS are the brand names of Proteus®235