Folgende Antwort habe ich von Herrn Buffet auf ein paar Fragen und Anmerkungen erhalten:
"Dear Mr ...,
Thank you for your interest and investment in Cegedim....
The focus of the management is clearly on improving the margins of the group which are not considered sufficient at the present level, especially on the software business. Regarding the latter, the Group has identified and is adressing three main issues :
Cegedim Santé : the hiring of a substantial sales and R&D force to penetrate the market with the Maiia solution has weighted on the profitability since 2021 but is starting to pay off. It is one of the reasons for the 65 million euro capital increase of Cegedim Santé reserved to VYV, Pro BTP and Malakoff Humanis in 2022. Another reason was to be able to strengthen its solution with targeted M&A, as with the acquisition of Visiodent this year which allows the Group to enter the dentist market and significantly expand in the dynamic health centres market. The Group is confident to breakeven in 2025. Smart Rx : the pharmacy software business in France has launched a new product called NEV (Nouvel Espace de Vente) to regain its market share but it is true that it may take a bit of time to be back to our previous level of pharmacies equipped with our product. UK doctors software : the Group has decided to focus on Scotland where it is the #1 actor and soon to be the sole and whithdraw from England, Wales and Northern Ireland where it was generating important losses. We have a three-year duty to migrate « our » doctors to our competitors solutions, the loss will reduce progessively on this time range.
At Group level, the target is to reach a Current Ebit of 40 million euro this year, and improve its sale in a range of 5% to 8%, meaning reaching a current Ebit margin around 6%. With the situation improving at Cegedim Santé and UK doctors in the years to come, the margins should keep on improving. Also, it is worth mentionning that our other businesses are healthy and benefit from good prospects.
I take good notes of your remarks and suggestion regarding the communication of the strategy and will do my best improve the message conveyed to the financial markets in the near future.
Best regards,
Damien BUFFET Head of Financial Communication |