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Elite expects to break even on Drax Hall centre by March

Published:Wednesday | December 11, 2019 | 12:00 AM
Gene Douglas (right) confers with Quentin Hugh Sam (left), director, Elite Diagnostic, and Warren Chung (centre), chief executive officer, on how to proceed with their annual general meeting (AGM). The AGM was held at the Knutsford Court Hotel in St Andrew on Tuesday, December 10, 2019.

Elite Diagnostics Limited, a provider of ­medical imaging services, expects revenues to equal expenses at its new location in Drax Hall, St Ann, by next March.

The Drax Hall location lost $2 million to $4 million in the September quarter.

“But I do not have the exact numbers on me,” ­cautioned CEO Warren Chung at the company’s annual general meeting in Kingston on Tuesday.

The Drax Hall location opened in September as the third centre operated by the company, which expects the new facility to become fully operational by mid-December. Elite is currently adding new ­equipment to the location, which will have a doctor’s office in addition to full imaging services.

“We are still having challenges with the MRI. The X-ray is being installed on December 18. So by that time, we will have all modalities working,” said Chung.

The modalities to which he referred span X-ray, CT scan, ultrasound, and MRI services.

Chung says that the company has no immediate plans to invest in more centres. Its other two are at Holborn Road and Liguanea in Kingston.

“We are looking for extensive revenue growth from the Drax Hall location,” said Chung, who expects group revenue to hover in the $120 million region for the upcoming December second quarter. He later described the December quarter as a traditionally slow period.

Elite’s September first quarter produced revenue of $118 million, up from $85 million a year earlier. Net profit spiked from $1.8 million to $16.7 million.

Elite Diagnostics was incorporated in 2012 and started operations a year later. In the wake of the Drax Hall expansion, its total assets climbed year on year from $588 million to $680.5 million in the September quarter.

steven.jackson@gleanerjm.com