Year-end report 2021: Continued growth and an underlying improvement in results

• The result for the full year before items effecting comparability is the best to date for GHP
• Four new start-ups with a future sales potential of SEK 250 million
• Powerful action programmes implemented in Denmark and Stockholm, with restructuring costs of SEK 3.6 million in Q4
• High levels of covid-related sick leave have a temporary negative impact on Focus during Q4 and the beginning of Q1
• The comparison period 2020 was affected by items affecting comparability for capital gains (SEK +19.8 million)
• The Board of Directors proposes a dividend of SEK 0.5 per share, which is on a par with the previous year

Fourth quarter 2021

• Sales revenues increased to SEK 401.8 (393.5) million
• Organic growth amounted to 2.8% (8.8%)
• Adjusted EBITDA totalled SEK 58.5 (46.6) million
• The adjusted EBITDA margin was 14.6% (11.8%)
• Adjusted EBIT amounted to SEK 32.0 (20.6) million
• The adjusted EBIT margin was 8.0% (50.2%

Full year 2021

• Sales revenues increased to SEK 1,486.3 (1,371.9) million
• Organic growth increased to 10.7% (3.8%)
• Adjusted EBITDA totalled SEK 199.5 (180.6) million
• The adjusted EBITDA margin was 13.6% (13.2%)
• Adjusted EBIT amounted to SEK 93.0 (80.3) million
• The adjusted EBIT margin was 6.3% (5.8%)

CEO’s comments
During the fourth quarter, we continued our focused efforts in order to create excellent conditions for achieving our financial targets. We have now laid the foundation for achieving average annual organic growth of at least 15%, with an operating margin of at least 7%.

In connection with this work, we have also changed our segments and the names of our segments. We have created GHP Focus, which alludes to our motto of “Quality through specialisation” and includes all health-care operations (including the operation in Kuwait). GHP Vårdsamverkan has changed its name to GHP Solutions to clarify how we deliver complete comprehensive solutions. 

The year ended with a lot of operational disruption due to high levels of sick leave and self-isolation rules as a result of the pandemic. GHP’s employees are its most important asset, and when we have high levels of absence, this has a major impact on our clinics. This is one reason why the organic growth in this quarter temporarily stopped at 2.8% and the margin in Focus decreased. The beginning of 2022 has also been affected by this, although the situation has improved in February. These are temporary effects and these disruptions mean that demand is now even stronger in the future, which well matches our start-ups.

Organic growth in 2021 amounted to 10.7%. Most of the growth comes from our existing clinics in the Focus segment. Our newly started clinics will be key in further increasing the growth rate. We are therefore delighted that we currently have four start-up projects in progress. In the third quarter, we started GHP Medicinskt Centrum Göteborg, and we have now also opened the doors to our new spine and orthopaedic clinic in Malmö. Patients have already begun to flock to the clinic, and in March we will start surgery in three fully equipped operating theatres.

In addition to these two new clinics, we have also decided to start up a new centre in Gothenburg focusing on general surgery, urology and gastroenterology, as well as a new urology clinic in Stockholm. These start-ups will satisfy our customers’ demand for high-quality health care in the respective diagnostic areas while contributing to GHP’s growth in 2022 and 2023. These start-ups have a sales potential of SEK 250 million. During the fourth quarter we also carried out important activities to improve our profitability. Our two largest clinics, Gildhöj and Stockholm Spine Center, were unable to meet our profitability expectations in 2021. In response to this, during the fourth quarter we carried out structural changes in our business operations, which we expect to yield a positive effect as soon as the first half of 2022.

We have had a long period of very high growth in Denmark but the expansion has not sufficiently contributed to improvements in results. We are therefore now prioritising improvements in margins over growth in Denmark.

Stockholm Spine Center produces excellent results in terms of quality and enjoys a strong position in the market but it has the potential to improve its financial results. The restructuring measures we have now implemented will contribute to significant results improvements in future. During the quarter we charged SEK 3.6 million of restructuring costs to expenses.

Within Solutions, in the fourth quarter we took another important strategic step by signing an agreement with Bliwa regarding their health insurance. Under the agreement, GHP will take full responsibility for the quality, cost and care of all aspects of the health insurance for Bliwa’s customers, while Bliwa will retain full responsibility as the insurer.

At our capital market day, we highlighted the potential we see in combining modern corporate health care with an attractive health insurance offering. Our investment in Qurant and our collaboration with Avonova are clear examples of how we are positioning ourselves to build a unique cohesive system for these services. In the fourth quarter, we laid the foundation for launching these offerings to the market. Avonova’s product is now sold to end customers and Qurant’s will be launched in the second quarter.

As previously announced, our management contract in UAE has been terminated and the transfer of the hospitals has proceeded to plan. During the quarter, we also brought in partners in our diabetes project in Saudi Arabia, which means that the project has even better conditions to develop while we can free up resources to take advantage of all the exciting opportunities we have in our domestic markets.

We are now leaving an eventful quarter behind us and entering the new year in an excellent position, where demand for health care is higher than ever before, where we are expanding and fine-tuning our network of high-quality clinics and where we occupy a unique position in the company-financed market.