On the international front, Intelerad has been most successful so far in the private imaging market in Australia and New Zealand, where it has established a dominant position. Its traction in the hospital market here has been slower, though it has secured a share of the much-coveted AUS47.2m (USD31.8m) Western Australia Health Authority deal, a contract covering 80 hospitals it will implement with Canon Medical (lead partner) and specialists Kestral and DesAcc. Given large regional deals make up the bulk of revenue for Imaging IT in Australia, successful delivery of this project should act as a further reference for other business in the country. That said, while large in scale, these deals are infrequent and fiercely competitive, so Intelerad will also need to broaden its international horizons to continue to push further top- and bottom-line growth in the mid-term.
The U.K. market is the most obvious candidate, especially given the firm has just established its first major acute care trust implementation with the NHS in England. However, the dynamics and complexities of NHS procurement for imaging IT limits assured growth in the U.K. Each cluster of hospitals has tended to push its own framework for radiology IT in the U.K., making it easier for incumbent contract extensions. Furthermore, the governance structure of the NHS for IT is a moving target, adding some further risk to its growth prospects. That said, the market is warming to a more enterprise radiology approach, with operational workflow management and teleradiology a key priority in a system overstretched for radiologist reading resources.
Intelerad should be looking for markets that have traditionally been sluggish in enterprise imaging adoption, have been relatively fragmented in competitive terms and that have a significant amount of private radiology business. France is a more obvious opportunity in Europe, especially given the changing hands of the incumbent Agfa imaging IT business to Dedalus; Switzerland too could offer some opportunity. Germany is perhaps the other large European market that could suit, though the strong preference for local regional vendors and bureaucratic procurement process may limit growth without significant investment in sales operations. The Middle East, South Africa, North Africa and South East Asia could also offer medium- to long-term expansion opportunities. However, we would advise a more focused and targeted approach on the U.K. and France in the medium-term.
