Ascendis swings into massive R674m loss

ASCENDIS Health yesterday swung into a massive R673.8 million loss from a R204.96m profit last year as rising debt, higher finance costs, increased tax expenses and impairments hurt its performance during the six months to the end of December.

The health and wellness company said that it incurred a R246m impairment during the period with a tax expense increasing to R139m and net debt rising to R6.6 billion.

The group said its normalised headline earnings fell 131 percent to a loss of R43m, with normalised headline loss per share from continuing operations of 9 cents a share.

It said revenue, however, surged 33 percent to R3.98bn despite the losses, with normalised operating profit increasing 27 percent to R486m.

Chief executive Mark Sardi said the group benefited from its largely Covid-19 defensive portfolio and grew international revenue by 35 percent, with revenue from the South African operations increasing 30 percent.

“While there is still uncertainty in relation to the future impact of Covid19, our priorities remain to protect the health and safety of employees and stakeholders, maintain business continuity and ensure the availability of life-saving products to assist in combating the pandemic,” Sardi said.

In South Africa, medical devices form the strongest performing business, with revenue accelerating 59 percent through supply of high-demand ventilators, respirators and testing products in the Covid-19 pandemic.

The group said the benefit of these Covid-19-related sales were partly offset by restrictions on elective surgeries and fewer trauma cases.