HONG KONG, Feb. 13 /PRNewswire-Asia-FirstCall/ -- China's leading integrated medical device and healthcare services provider, Golden Meditech Company Limited is pleased to announce today the third quarterly results of financial year 2008/09 for the period ended December 31, 2008. The Group recorded HK$377,707,000 of revenue from key businesses, an increase of 25% on a year-on-year basis.
During the reporting period, the Group's umbilical cord blood bank operations has sustained its strong growth momentum and reported a 71% growth of revenue, accounting for 41% of the Group's total.
Mr. KAM Yuen, Chairman and CEO of Golden Meditech, said the Group's operating profits (excluding investment income(losses) and one-time gains) totaled HK$212,549,000 over the past nine months, representing an increase of 18% over the corresponding period last year. This illustrates the steady and healthy growth and profit-generating capabilities of all key business divisions, he noted.
He attributes the Group's sustained growth to the mounting sales of cord blood bank services and the one-time consumables of ABRS devices, which surged by 71% and 32% respectively. In the initial nine months of this year, the Cord Blood Bank division reported 40% increase of new sign-up customers and contributed up 41% to the Group's total revenue. Medical Device Segment account for 52% of the Group's total.
Over the past nine months, the Group's profits attributable to equity shareholders, however, declined because of increased corporate income tax, absence of one-off exceptional items and losses from investment activities under the impacts of the global financial crisis.
He emphasized that China's healthcare industry will continue to grow despite uncertainties brought to the economy by the global financial crisis. The management has made all efforts to sustain the stable growth of all key businesses, such as enhancing the market development of the umbilical cord blood bank services on one hand, and reinforcing market education to promote clinical applications of the self-developed medical devices, on the other hand.
In alignment with the business expansion, the Group's new storage facilities in Beijing will commence operation on April 1, 2009. By then, the Group will have a combined storage capacity of 600,000 sets of stem cells together with the newly built storage bank in Guangdong Province. These two new facilities will greatly enhance the Group's service capacity in the regions aforementioned.
To accelerate growth of the Medical Device Segment, the management is considering new marketing and sales methods to further penetration of the ABRS devices at hospitals and to encourage the consumable sales as well. In addition, the two new devices, namely, the Plasma Exchange System and the Accelerated Thermostatic Infusion Pump are believed helpful to boost the division's revenue growth and profit in a foreseeable future.
The proposed spin-off and overseas listing of the Group's Cord Blood Bank division won overwhelming shareholders support and was approved at the Extraordinary General Meeting held in Hong Kong on December 15, 2008. Once the transactions are completed, Golden Meditech will become the first hi-tech healthcare company to have successfully spun off and listed its healthcare operations overseas since the establishment of the Growth Enterprise Market in Hong Kong.
Golden Meditech: Founded in 2000 and listed on the Growth Enterprise Market of the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited in December 2001, Golden Meditech is the first hi-tech medical device enterprise that went public outside of the PRC. During the past few years, thanks to its great efforts in innovation and market expansion, as well as its first-mover abilities in capturing the emerging market opportunities, Golden Meditech's medical devices, cord blood banking services and natural herbal medicines have all established dominant positions in their own sectors. Going forward, Golden Meditech will continue its pursuit of becoming China's leading integrated medical group through organic growth, acquisitions and strategic investments.
CONTACT: Investor Relations Division of Golden Meditech Company Limited,
+852-3605-8138, or fax, +852-3605-8181, or ir@goldenmeditech.com
