Cegedim Full year 2023 results: Revenue and recurring operating income both up

Quarterly financial information as of December 31, 2023
IFRS - Regulated information - Audited

Full year 2023 results: Revenue and recurring operating income both up

• 2023 revenues rose 10.9% to €616.0 million
• Recurring operating income⁽¹⁾ rose 23.4% to €31.7 million

Boulogne-Billancourt, France, March 27, 2024, after the market close

Cegedim generated consolidated revenues of €616.0 million in 2023, an increase of 10.9% as reported and 10.8% like for like⁽²⁾ compared with the previous year, and recurring operating income⁽¹⁾ came to €31.7 million, a 23.4% increase.

Consolidated income statement

Consolidated revenues: rose €61 million, or +10.9%, to €616.0 million in 2023 compared with €555.2 million in 2022. The positive scope effect of €1.7 million, or 0.3%, was attributable to the full-year consolidation in Cegedim’s accounts of acquisitions MesDocteurs, Laponi, Sedia, and Clinityx. The positive currency impact was €0.8 million, or 0.1%.
Like-for-like⁽²⁾ revenue increased 10.8% over the period.

Recurring operating income⁽¹⁾: rose €6.0 million in 2023 to €31.7 million compared with €25.7 million in 2022. It amounted to 5.1% of 2023 revenue compared with 4.6% in 2022. The increase was chiefly the result of improved earnings at Cegedim Santé and international businesses, as well as BPO offerings in insurance and the excellent performance of Human Resources activities. The foundation of our historical activities remains very solid, both in digital marketing and in flows digitalization for businesses and healthcare, featuring investments in innovation.

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(1)    Alternative performance indicator See pages 110-111 of the 2022 Universal Registration Document.
(2)   At constant scope and exchange rates.

Other non-recurring operating income and expenses⁽¹⁾: amounted to an expense of €11.7 million in 2023 compared with an income of €0.8 million in 2022. The group wrote down nearly €9 million in assets in the UK in 2023, notably owing to its recent decision to refocus its doctor software business exclusively on Scotland. In 2022, Cegedim Group received proceeds from selling a minority stake.

Depreciation and amortization expenses: rose €6.7 million in 2023. Amortization of R&D investments rose €2.3 million year on year, and capex amortization rose €2.8 million as a result of investments in the operations of cegedim.cloud and C-Media.

EBITDA: the €12.6 million increase between 2022 and 2023 was the result of a stabilization in personnel costs and supplies relative to the pace of revenue growth, in spite of higher external expenses related to launching the Allianz contract.

Financial result: came to -€11.9 million, down €3.1 million compared with 2022 owing to higher interest expense on borrowings with floating interest rates.

Total tax: came to a charge of €14.8 million in 2023, up €10.2 million compared with 2022, notably due to a €12.3 million accounting adjustment to previously recognized deferred tax assets. The adjustment had no cash impact and was intended to reflect recent developments in judicial precedent that led the Group to measure its potential unrealized gain more conservatively.

Analysis of business trends by division

• Software & Services: 2023 revenues rose 8.2%, driven by good performances at Cegedim Santé (+10% over the FY), HR solutions (+19%), pharmacy solutions in France (+8%), and international businesses in the UK and Spain (+7%).
  
  

Recurring operating income (REBIT) amounted to €4.2 million in 2023, a €9 million increase compared with a €4.9 million loss in 2022.         
Of the increase, nearly €5 million was attributable to robust sales at Cegedim Santé combined with good hiring management after the company beefed up its sales, operating support, and R&D teams in 2022.         
International businesses accounted for €3.8 million of the performance, boosted by a strong recovery in Pharmacy solutions in the UK, where restructuring efforts are starting to pay off, and very brisk business at the Activus subsidiary (insurance for expatriate employees).         
At the remaining software and services entities in France, results were very satisfactory in HR and pharmacy software, offsetting a drop in project-based business in the Insurance segment.

• Flow: Revenues rose 5.9%, led by process digitalization in electronic data flows, whose French and international businesses grew 7.4%. Over the same period, Third-party payer systems posted 3.7% growth.         
  The €1 million drop in recurring operating income was due mainly to investments in earning digitalization platform partner (PDP) certification ahead of the electronic invoicing reform that will become mandatory in France starting in 2026. The Third-party payer business posted a slight increase in recurring operating income.
• Data & Marketing: Marketing and Data activities made positive contributions of respectively 10.7% and 5.1% to the division’s revenue growth compared with 2022.         
  The division’s recurring operating income dropped 11.3% compared with 2022 due to international Data businesses, which lost ground in 2023, and the startup of Clinityx’s new Magellan business, which is expected to generate its first revenues in 2024. The Marketing division saw a 4.4% increase in recurring operating income.
• BPO: the division’s revenues grew 34.9% year on year in 2023. It was particularly buoyed by services managed on behalf of health and personal protection insurers, which jumped more than 55.3% owing to the start of the new contract with Allianz on April 1, 2023. Revenues from services management on behalf of HR departments rose 3.4%.         
  The division’s recurring operating income climbed 33%, bolstered mainly by outsourcing for HR departments, which is riding a wave of management process automation. Sales to insurers posted positive recurring operating income, up slightly, despite the costs of launching the Allianz contract.
• Cloud & Support: Revenues rose €4.3 million in 2023, chiefly because all of the Group’s cloud businesses have been moved to this division (some were previously housed in Software & Services).

2023 recurring operating income was a €4.5 million loss, €1.1 million higher than the loss in 2022. The increase was notably the result of increased depreciation and amortization expenses borne by cegedim.cloud, which stem from the investments made in the Group’s shared IT infrastructure.

Highlights

To the best of the company’s knowledge, there were no events or changes during 2023 that would materially alter the Group’s financial situation.

• Acquisition of a majority stake in Phealing

On November 30, 2023, Cegedim acquired a majority stake in Phealing, a start-up specializing in secure prescription drug delivery. Phealing’s offer, based around its advanced artificial intelligence engine, caters to a key concern for pharmacies: double checking prescription medication, which means verifying at the time the prescription is filled that the medicine matches the patient’s prescription, physical profile, and illness. Phealing was consolidated in the Group’s accounts starting on December 31, 2023, meaning only its balance sheet is reflected.

• Tax

Cegedim S.A. has been audited twice since 2018, giving rise to reassessments of the company’s use of tax loss carryforwards disputed by the tax authorities. After consultation with its lawyers and based on the applicable tax law and ample precedent, Cegedim S.A. believes that the tax authorities’ proposed reassessment is unwarranted. As a result, the company has appealed the decision and continues to explore its options for contesting the reassessment.

To be in full compliance, Cegedim S.A. has already paid a total of €23 million (incl. €10.9 million in February 2024) to cover reassessments of tax losses used up to 2022. The corresponding entry for these payments is not the taxes line of the income statement, but rather the tax receivables line of the balance sheet, as we expect these sums to be repaid once the dispute has been favorably resolved. Furthermore the Company continues to recognize a deferred tax asset for the remaining disputed tax losses that it believes it will still be able to use, i.e. €7.7 million on the consolidated balance sheet at December 31, 2023 (a decrease of €12.3 million year on year after taking into account recent judicial precedent, which led to a more conservative measurement of unrealized potential gains).

Cegedim S.A. continues to use the remaining disputed tax loss carryforwards. In the event of an unfavorable ruling, based on the tax losses used until December 31, 2023, Cegedim S.A. would have to book a tax loss of €27 million in its P&L, of which it has already paid €23 million, and to cancel €7.7 million in deferred tax assets, a P&L loss which would not entail any cash outflow.

In the fourth quarter of 2023, Cegedim S.A. appealed the dispute to the administrative court, an effort which could take several years.

Significant transactions and events post December 31, 2023

Apart from the items cited below, to the best of the Company’s knowledge, there were no events or changes during the period that would materially alter the Group’s financial situation.

• Acquisition of Visiodent

On February 15, 2024, Cegedim Santé acquired Visiodent, a leading French publisher of management software for dental practices and health clinics. Visiodent launched the market’s first 100% SaaS solution, Veasy, at a time when it was significantly expanding its organization. Its users now include the country’s largest nation-wide networks of health clinics, both cooperative and privately owned, as well as several thousand dental surgeons in private practice. Visiodent generated revenue of c.€10 million in 2023 and will begin contributing to Cegedim Group’s consolidation scope on March 1, 2024. Post the acquisition, Cegedim is in compliance with all of its covenants and financing contracts.

• Euris litigation

Cegedim, jointly with IQVIA (formerly IMS Health), is being sued by Euris for unfair competition. Cegedim has asked the court to dismiss the case against the Company. On December 17, 2018, the Paris Commercial Court granted Cegedim’s request, which IQVIA then appealed. On December 8, 2021, the Court of Appeals upheld the judgement in favor of Cegedim. The case was appealed to the Supreme Court, and in a ruling on March 20, 2024, the court overturned the Court of Appeals judgement that had exonerated Cegedim. As a result, the case has been sent back to the Paris Court of Appeals with a different set of judges.
After consulting its external legal counsel, the Group decided not to set aside any provisions.

• War in Ukraine

The Group does not do business in Russia or Ukraine and has no assets exposed to those countries.

Outlook

Based on the currently available information, the Group expects 2024 like-for-like revenue⁽²⁾ growth to be in the range of 5-8% relative to 2023. Recurring operating income should continue to improve, following a similar trajectory as in 2023.

These targets are not forecasts and may need to be revised if there is a significant worsening of geopolitical, macroeconomic, or monetary risks.

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The Audit Committee met on March 25, 2024. The Board of Directors, chaired by Jean-Claude Labrune, met on April 27, 2024. It approved the consolidated financial statements at December 31, 2023, and will ask the Shareholders’ Meeting to approve the accounts for the year 2023. The consolidated accounts have been audited. The statutory auditors’ report will be issued once the formalities required for submission of the Universal Registration Document have been completed.

The Universal Registration Document will be available in a few days’ time, in French and in English, on our website.

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(2) At constant scope and exchange rates.

2024 financial calendar

Financial calendar: https://www.cegedim.fr/finance/agenda/Pages/default.aspx

Annexes

Consolidated financial statements at December 31, 2023

• Assets at December 31, 2023

• 
  Liabilities and equity at December 31, 2023

• Income statement as of December 31, 2023

(1) Alternative performance indicator

• Cash flow statement as of December 31, 2023

• Financial covenants

(*) excluding employee profit sharing liabilities, the FCB loan, and IFRS 16 liabilities

The Group complied with all these covenants as of December 31, 2023, and there is no foreseeable risk of default.

Attachment

• Cegedim_Results_FY2023_ENG