Telehealth company Reliq Health Technologies Inc. (RHT:TSX.V; RQHTF:OTCQB; A2AJTB:WKN) announced it has signed five new contracts in four states for its iUGO platform, including its first contract in the state of Arkansas.
The contracts are expected to add more than 3,000 new patients to iUGO by the end of the year at an average revenue of CA$65 per patient per month.
According to the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease, chronic diseases could cost Arkansas US$19.4 billion annually in medical costs and US$7.9 billion in lost employee productivity.
"In Arkansas, 13,200 lives could be saved annually through better prevention and treatment of chronic disease," the organization said.
The group said in 2015, 1.9 million in the state had at least one chronic disease, and 787,000 had two or more chronic diseases.
"Reliq's iUGO Care platform has been proven to reduce hospitalizations, improve health outcomes and generate significant cost-savings to the health care system when used with chronic disease patients, which makes it a perfect fit for clinicians in Arkansas and other states with high rates of chronic disease," Reliq Chief Executive Officer Lisa Crossley said.
Crossley has said the company services more than 100,000 on iUGO and expects to have as many as 200,000 patients on the platform by the middle of 2023.
According to the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease, chronic diseases could cost Arkansas US$19.4 billion annually in medical costs and US$7.9 billion in lost employee productivity.
During a webinar with shareholders last month, Crossley said the company expected to be profitable for the quarter ending in June and to initiate a share buyback program sometime this year.
"We're going to have a much more comfortable cash position in the remainder of 2023 than we have the last few years," Crossley said.
Crossley said the company does not expect to need to raise capital in 2023 and expects to uplist to the NASDAQ exchange in the second half of the year.
Technical analyst Clive Maund of CliveMaund.com recommended the stock shortly after news broke last year that the company's revenue jumped 485% from fiscal year 2021 to fiscal year 2022. Writing for Streetwise Reports, he said he would "stay long" on the stock.
The global telehealth market that Reliq serves is anticipated to reach US$380 billion by 2023, according to a Research and Markets report.
The pandemic "led to increased awareness about telemedicine solutions, propelled the adoption rates among patients and providers, and increased the investment activities in the market," the report said.
The Catalyst: Contracts in Four States
In addition to Arkansas, the new contracts also covered physician practices and home health agencies in California, Nevada, and Texas, the company said.
Technical analyst Clive Maund recommended the stock shortly after news broke last year that the company's revenue jumped 485% from fiscal year 2021 to fiscal year 2022. Writing for Streetwise Reports, he said he would "stay long" on the stock.
Reliq announced recently that it has started onboarding patients for its largest client yet, a healthcare system with more than 1,200 care centers in seven states that are expected to add over 2,000 new patients per month to iUGO.
Diseases the platform aims to manage include chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), congestive heart failure, diabetes, hypertension, and others. Patients get audible reminders to step on a scale, take their blood pressure, or prick their fingers for glucose monitoring. The information is automatically uploaded to the cloud.
iUGO draws on data from fall detection devices, medication tracking, and vitals data to flag patients at home or in facilities who need additional monitoring.
Growth to Accelerate 'Significantly'
Earlier this year, the company reported that revenue from software and services from iUGO continued to increase.
The company had revenues of CA$4.12 million for the second quarter of fiscal year 2023, compared to CA$2.14 million during the quarter that ended Dec. 31, 2021. For the 12 months ending Dec. 31, 2022, it had revenues of CA$12.68 million.
In an April 3 note, Sadif Analytics upgraded RHT to Above Average from Average.
Reliq has said it expects to accelerate its growth "significantly" this year and collect more than US$5 million in payments for fiscal year 2023 ending in June, compared to US$2.5 million in fiscal years 2021 and 2022 combined.
One issue the company has faced has been collecting outstanding balances from clients. However, all clients are now signed up for payment plans and have started making payments, Crossley said.
"We expect to be caught up on receivable collections by the end of June 2023," she said.
Streetwise Ownership Overview*
Reliq Health Technologies Inc. (RHT:TSX.V; RQHTF:OTCQB; A2AJTB:WKN)
In an April 3 note, Sadif Analytics upgraded RHT to Above Average from Average.
The company "has fair financials and good earnings quality," the note said, adding the stock was "safe."
Ownership and Share Structure
About 8% of Reliq's shares are owned by insiders, including Crossley, with 1.6% or 3.22 million shares. About 0.3% of the company is owned by institutional investors, including FNB Wealth Management, with 0.01% or 0.03 million shares, according to Reuters.
Other top investors include Eugene Beukman, who owns 0.11% or 0.23 million shares, and Brian Storseth, who owns 0.07% or 0.14 million shares, Reuters said.
Crossley said 91.7% of the company is retail.
The company has 201 million shares outstanding, with about 197 million free-floating. It has a market cap of CA$112.15 million and trades in a 52-week range of CA$0.76 and CA$0.36.
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Disclosures for Sadif Analytics, April 3, 2023:
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