Nighthawk activity close to pre-pandemic levels says Medica

A glimmer of hope from London-listed Medica Plc today after it said demand for some services are starting to return to pre-pandemic levels.

The teleradiology provider previously announced it was anticipating H1 2020 revenues to be down £5m on the previous year at £17m due to the impact of Covid-19 on radiology reporting activity.

Although that forecast remained unchanged, the company said reporting activity continued to increase, with demand for its out-of-hours service Nighthawk around 95% of the level reported prior to the pandemic.

Demand for elective reporting has been slower to return and is currently around 10% of pre-Covid levels.

However, in a trading update the company said it had returned to profitability in June. Despite the decline in revenues, there has also been limited impact on cash generation and the cash balance stood at £20m at 30 June 2020 compared to £16.5m at 31 December 2019.

In addition, it said it had strengthened capacity and recruitment while continuing to drive forward projects in support of the new strategy, which was announced in March 2020.

It expects demand to increase across its service lines as NHS hospitals work to process the substantial backlog of elective procedures and government restrictions are eased.

CEO Dr Stuart Quin said: ‘Whilst demand for our services was significantly impacted during the period, particularly our routine service due to the suspension of elective procedures, we are encouraged to see a continuing improvement in activity. This is particularly evident for our Nighthawk service, with activity now similar to pre-COVID-19 levels. We continue to work closely with our clients to provide timely reporting of imaging for elective procedures as they actively manage waiting lists that have built up over the past months.’

Medica plans to provide an update on guidance for the full year and publish its financial results for the six months ended 30 June 2020 on 14 September 2020.