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Sparebank1 markets
Petter Kongslie
19 August 2020

Covid-19 push estimates out in time, but investment case unchanged
Buy & NOK35 tp. = 30x 21 EV/EBIT on Medical Imaging + 10% market share in Digital Pathology
Despite negative estimate revisions on the back of Covid-19 related postponements of installations, restriction in access for new sales and reprioritized hospital resources and focus, we reiterate our Buy rec. and NOK35 tp. Central to our view is 1) that COV is a medical technology software company with 35y of experience and solid track-record as debt- free and the demonstrated global market leader in Medical Imaging with and estimated 50% market share. Indeed, the company can point to a 10y organic revenue CAGR of ~7% with an operational scalability where trailing 12m EBIT margin as of 2Q20 stood at +40%. Moreover, 2) with cash flow and know-how from Medical Imaging, the company has invested ~NOK100m the last 3-4y in, and is at the doorstep to launch its first CE-marked Digital Pathology product in a double digit growing and soon to be +USD1bn market. Interestingly, 3) we argue the latter optionality comes at a heavy discount and assuming same valuation as peer Paige, Digital Pathology is worth +NOK30 per share on top of ~NOK20 in value on Medical Imaging, which would represent 100% upside from current level. We believe COV will continue to build brick by brick and we see shareholder remuneration through a combination of sales growth, margin expansion in medical Imaging and gradual de-risking and value creation from near term product installation in Digital Pathology.
Demonstrated and established global market leader within Medical Imaging...; COV has +35y of experience from Medical Imaging and its medical technology software that specialized in image analysis and artificial intelligence for image-based applications, has been installed in +300k systems worldwide – giving the company roughly 50% market share. The company is particularly strong on 2D and 3D ultrasound, a market expected to grow 6% going forward and COV can point to a 10y organic revenue CAGR of 7% with a demonstrated software scalability with a trailing 12m EBIT margin of +40% as of 2Q20.
...at the doorstep to harvest years of investments in Digital Pathology...; Leveraging its experience and the strong FCF in Medical Imaging, COV has over the last 3-4y invested ~NOK80 over the P&L alone, in addition to unallocated capex, within Digital Pathology. This is expected to be a +USD1bn company market before 2030, it grows double digit and COV is at the doorstep to install its first CE-marked product, INIFY, a Prostate Screening tool. Peer valuation put this segment at +NOK30 per share.
...and we argue the latter optionality comes at a heavy discount; Both medtech and software companies are valued at roughly 30x 2021 EV/EBIT with some 12% expected revenue CAGR and 22% EBIT margin. COV’s Medical Imaging segment is expected to grow 9% in the same period (2019-2021e) and delivered 42.5% EBIT margin on a trailing 12m basis as of 2Q20. Thus, applying peer multiples on our 2021 Medical Imaging segment EBIT, we arrive at ~NOK20 per share vs. the current share price of NOK25. Meaning; we argue investors get the Digital Pathology optionality at a heavy discount vs. comparable transactions.