LONDON, November 23, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Group Financial Highlights

Q3 performance

• Pro forma^[1] Revenue for Q3 2012 increased by £1.8m to £116.3m, a rise of 1.6% (Q3 2011: £114.5m), driven by the contribution from acquisitions alongside growth in the Older People division due to the continued maturity of the Priory estate
• Pro forma Adjusted EBITDA^[2] up 9.8% to £34.6m (Q3 2011: £31.5m) and pro forma Adjusted EBITDAR up 8.7% to £37.4m (Q3 2011: £34.4m), primarily due to £1.5m of central cost savings arising from the successful integration of Craegmoor, £0.7m from acquisitions and growth within the Older People division
• Pro forma Adjusted EBITDA^[2] up 0.9% from Q2 2012 to £34.6m in Q3 2012 (Q2 2012: £34.3m)

YTD performance

• Pro forma^[1] Revenue YTD 2012 increased by £3.5m to £347.1m, a rise of 1.0% (YTD 2011: £343.6m), mainly due to growth within the Older People division and the contribution from acquisitions
• Pro forma Adjusted EBITDA^[2] YTD 2012 up 10.0% to £101.6m (YTD 2011: £92.4m) and pro forma Adjusted EBITDAR up 9.4% to £109.9m (YTD 2011: £100.5m) primarily due to £6.2m of central cost savings arising from the successful integration of Craegmoor, Older People growth and three Specialist Services acquisitions

For a copy of the full financial report for the three and six months ended 30 September 2012 please visit http://www.priorygroup.com/investors/financial-performance.aspx.  

Commenting on the results, Priory Group Chairman Mike Jeffries said:

"I am pleased that the Group has recorded another solid quarter of growth following our robust first half performance.  However, given the ongoing backdrop of commissioning reforms, certain elements of our business underperformed our expectations towards the end of the period.  This underperformance has continued into October with our acute hospitals, education and specialist care businesses particularly affected by uncertainty at a NHS funder and local authority level which has had the effect of delaying the time period between referrals and admissions.

"Although the timeline from referral to admission is likely to lengthen in the short term given the reforms, Priory's position within the marketplace remains strong and, ultimately, the disruption is only likely to delay decision making rather than result in lost business for the Group.

"However, as a result of this disruption, we now anticipate a c.2 to 3% reduction in our full year EBITDA performance against our previous guidance of £135m excluding the impact of acquisitions and additional ongoing quality costs.  

"Despite the near term hiatus in the referral process, the fundamentals underpinning the markets in which we operate remain favourable and the Group firmly believes that the healthcare commissioning reforms will ultimately have a positive impact on Priory once they are fully implemented in the longer term."

About Priory

Priory is Europe's leading independent provider of care for mental health conditions, psychological and psychiatric services including condition management programmes, secure, forensic and stepdown services, specialist education, complex care, neuro-rehabilitation services, fostering and care homes.  It is also the UK's leading independent provider of support for people with learning difficulties, autism, complex needs, and mental health problems.

Priory employs over 10,000 people with a vast range of expertise and experience in over 270 hospitals, schools and care homes throughout the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland and Scotland. Priory has approximately 5,500 patients, pupils and residents.

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1. The Pro forma income statement assumes that the acquisition of the Priory Group occurred on 1 January 2011 rather than 4 March 2011, and that the acquisition of the Craegmoor Group occurred on 1 January 2011 rather than 14 April 2011.

2. Excludes exceptional non recurring items and charges for future minimum rental increases.

Enquiries:

Andrew Jaques / James White, MHP Communications, +44(0)20-3128-8100.