Ultrasis

Online healthcare tiddler Ultrasis, which commanded a lofty valuation following flotation on the Full List during the dot.com boom hype, has made its first ever profits.

Failing to deliver on its initial promise, Ultrasis went on to burn cash, amass debt and almost went bust. But it has since been restored to health by CEO Nigel Brabbins, who came on board in 2005. He has restructured Ultrasis, sorted out the balance sheet and sharpened the sales focus surrounding ‘Beating the Blues’, its computerised, cost-effective anxiety and depression treatment product, recommended by NICE (National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence).

Latest results, for the year to July, showed an encouraging turnaround from losses of £343,000 to maiden profits of £704,000 pre-tax, on turnover upped by almost 60% to £4.17m. Now unfettered by debt, the cash generative company reported year-end cash of almost £2.9m.

Revitalisation reflects the fact Beating the Blues, now available in 120 of England’s 153 Primary Care Trusts, is gaining traction in core market the NHS, where managers are under pressure to pare spending. Additionally, last December’s complementary acquisition GetFit, a high margin owner of physical wellness programmes related to nutrition and exercise, gave the financials a shot in the arm.

Encouragingly, Beating the Blues is now delivering on its early promise and since the year-end, Ultrasis has inked its biggest ever contract (worth a potential £2m) to provide every GP surgery in Northern Ireland with the product. ‘We are now a safe company in a huge growing market’, enthuses Brabbins, now with his eye on overseas expansion following the launch of a Dutch language version. ‘We can go anywhere now and we are talking to other European countries about licensing deals’, he explains.

Nursed back to health and with an increasingly viable investment case, Ultrasis remains speculative fare for now however, given its size and penny share status.