Healthcare technology company EMIS Group (EMIS) issued some interim results this morning. This is one of my longest standing holdings first purchased in 2011 although it has not been one of my greatest investments – overall total return over the years of only 9% per annum. But I did buy some more in March as I considered it would be a defensive share during the epidemic and might actually benefit from the medical crisis. That has turned out to be generally true.
Revenue was down by 2% however and adjusted profits likewise and it appears that business-to-business activity has been constrained but the share price has risen by 5% today (at the time of writing). Some effort has clearly been put into meeting new requirements from the epidemic but a new EMIS-X module was announced (EMIS-X is a new modular platform they are developing). However, it does seem that EMIS-X is slow in arriving in comparison with my expectations.
The health system is becoming more digitised so EMIS is in a good place and unlike other companies who are chopping their dividends, EMIS announced a 3% increase in the interim dividend.
For those who are not big consumers of health services like me it is truly revolutionary how the world has changed of late. Email discussions with GPs and video conversations are now enabled and the whole health system is more responsive. But it is getting more difficult to actually see a doctor in person which is sometimes still required.
Edison have published a video interview with the CEO of EMIS which you can watch here: https://www.edisongroup.com/edison-tv/emis-group-executive-interview/
As regards the epidemic AstraZeneca have indicated they have put their clinical trial of a vaccine on hold due to a possible adverse reaction in one patient. It may purely be a random effect. But with lots of competitors for a vaccine and a low probability of any one making money, this is not necessarily significant news.
Brexit
I was very amused to see Government Minister Brandon Lewis admitting in Parliament that it will break international law over the Brexit withdrawal treaty, in an attempt to “rewrite” it or “clarify” it depending on who you care to listen to. I would not rate Mr Lewis very highly in terms of his knowledge of the law having met him when he was a Government Minister in a different role. We discussed the use of police waivers of prosecutions for speeding offences which I consider an abuse and a perversion of justice. He simply suggested it was a form of “plea bargain”. Not that they are part of the UK judicial system of course so it was a very odd response.
Roger Lawson (Twitter: https://twitter.com/RogerWLawson )
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