Ergomed PLC (LON:ERGO), which provides specialised services to the pharmaceutical industry, saw underlying earnings (EBITDA) surge in 2020.
Adjusted EBITDA jumped 55.2% to £19.4mln from £12.5mln in 2019 while profit before tax leapt to £12.6mln from £5.0mln.
Revenue advanced 26.5% to £86.4mln from £68.3mln, despite contract research organisation (CRO) revenue being little changed at £31.3mln, as the sector was hit by the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Revenue growth was driven by the pharmacovigilance (PV) business, which saw revenues rocket 55.6% to £55.1mln from £35.4mln the year before, partly reflecting a first-time contribution of £9.3mln from PV USA (previously known as Ashfield Pharmacovigilance).
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The group ended the year with a net cash balance of £19mln and unused credit facilities of £30mln, plus a strong order book of £193mln, up from £124.1mln a year earlier.
“We have started 2021 in a strong position focused on our vision to achieve global leadership in specialised pharmaceutical services addressing unmet medical needs and patient safety,” said Miroslav Reljanović, Ergomed’s executive chairman.
Shares in Ergomed were up 2.1% at 1,225p in early deals.