After SA announced that they are reporting breast density, I contacted BreastScreen Victoria to ask when they are going to start reporting on breast density, given the evidence supporting density reporting.

 This is their response:

“Thank you for getting in touch. We are currently scoping a project which will inform our approach to any future reporting of breast density. We encourage you to keep an eye on this page of our website as it will be updated with any news: https://www.breastscreen.org.au/breast-cancer-and-screening/screening-methods-and-diagnosis/what-are-dense-breasts/

We’d also like to invite your to join our Consumer Network where you will have the opportunity to contribute towards BreastScreen Victoria’s work: https://www.breastscreen.org.au/get-involved/consumer-network/ “

Microsoft partner of the year awards, 2023

Volpara was recognised as the winner of the Healthcare and Life sciences and the New Zealand award

I found 58 categories, so I’m not placing much importance on the result, other than finding it worth noting.

The finalists in their category were:

·     Cognizant

·     Emids

·     RSM US LLP

https://news.microsoft.com/en-au/features/insight-and-volpara-announced-as-microsoft-anz-partners-of-the-year/ 

https://partner.microsoft.com/en-US/inspire/awards/winners#tab-4

For those who couldn’t attend the investor call, there wasn’t much additional info, the presentation and doc’s cover it. Paraphrased by me, italics direct quotes.

Comments from presentation:

• Overall vibe was upbeat, but that is very much Terri’s style
• Reiterates focus on culture and purpose with an emphasis on staff being the secret sauce
• Upgraded guidance is a mix of organic growth and uplift from FX, (sounded like $US played a big part)
• RSNA, world’s biggest radiology conference starts this week, expect productive contacts with current and prospective customers
• “Unsolicited kudos” from Canadian Breast? VHT software allowed them to finish their data audit in 2 hours normally takes 2 weeks….I’m a bit fuzzy on exactly what process/product  they were talking about.
• FDA mandate will be turning point in US and the rest of the world is watching
• This made me cringe; company mascot being launched at conference “goofy and fun”

Comments from Q&A:

• Revenue growth was a mix of new and existing customers, spilt evenly across the three products
• Can you maintain profitability timeline? A yes from Terri, firm on guidance
• Possible recessions expected to have negligible impact on revenue, healthcare immune
• Is upgraded guidance based on organic growth or $US?  On current currency, organic rev growth 22% but bulk of upgrade is due to $US
• Cyber security, front of mind, top of the list for company risks, potential threats being constantly accessed across all parts of the business, training staff and testing systems regularly.
• FDA mandate, expected in the next couple of months, but have no idea on what the implementation timeline will be, it is not expected to be immediate/quick. VHT has time to scale accordingly, deployment of density software is not a “heavy lift”.

Conclusion:

• Terri, looking forward: profitability is in reach, it’s a “good year”.  After profitability Volpara will look at company direction and options.

VHT investor Call 

Key points from the investor call this morning, following Q2 4C, summery in my words.

From the Presentation:

• B Corp certification, responsible, ethical business practice, was 18mths to get certification
• US legislation reintroduced to mandate breast density notifications, expected end CY22/earlyCY23
• Headcount: staff reduced from a high, mar 2022 of 189 to 155 currently. A few positions are outstanding,expect it to stabilise at 160. 41% of staff employed in R&D
• Reiterated taking care of current customers will drive sales, re referrals.
• Focus on most profitable markets US/Aust, CAN to a smaller extent
• Strategy based around growth
• New products in development, some collaboration with Microsoft, announcements expected next year
• Reiterated CF break even by 2024, profitable by FY2025
• Breast density focus is big news in the US, lots of recent media coverage.
• Product uptake is evenly split between 3 core products, with the breast scorecard slotting into the modules as needed. Funnel is growing organically based on customer demands.
• % of sales to new customers has increased to 73% in 2023 v 61% in 2022
• Comment from Jill, sales/marketing, “elephants on the horizon”

Q&A session:

• Sales pipeline in coming qtrs. has doubled.
• Targeting large customer called:
• Elephants 250K+
• Calves 100K+
• Cyber security discussed, actively administering/monitoring protocols etc
• First time this is mentioned according to Terri? Think I heard this right? Agreement with Epic, to work collaboratively with their customers, Epic has their own mammogram recording system, however the risk pathways and analytics adds value
• Meeting with Cerner, now Oracle, structural change is underway, not as strong in mammography, so opportunity to work together.
• Both Epic and Cerner were seen as collaborative opportunities for VHT
• Opex saving on reduced headcount expected to be min $NZ 1.5m. Noted Cash flow is lumpy, and investors should look at annual figures re payment cycles. CF up 8% in quarter considered low, expecting 20% Q3 as Oct is strong. 
• Currency has helped results. Going forward incoming $US dollars, 20%, have been hedged to 2026 @ .64c
• Interest rate increases no impact, however, inflation is having an impact especially in salaries.
• Monetising image data base, 70m images. Working on combining with other data bases, the artery calcification's with Microsoft was used as an example. Some opportunities being looked at by “innovation” team, no product yet, further detail next year
• Jill on impact of FDA density legislation: 20% of states are not mandated and the existing legislation between states is also varied from a basic notification to a more details analysis for patients and at risks persons. Considered a positive for VHT as it offers an unbiased measurement for density and federal law will push reporting towards consistency
• Reiterated metric to watch going forward is ARPA not ARPU

General Impression:

The team presents well and appear direct in their communication and answers to questions.

Have I been sucked in by a good story? After selling out in the past, when the company was floundering to gain any traction, I have bought a small starter position this morning.

Perhaps this is my “hopium” stock, as I really hope they can succeed in their mission of “saving families from cancer”.