Thankfully pandemics don’t come around very often. The last one of such virulence as COVID-19 being the ‘Spanish Flu’ in 1918-20. So how is ClearStar faring? Today’s 2019 results (see below) were in line with our revised expectations - reporting adjusted EBITDA (post SBPs) of $370k (-$108k LY) on turnover up 14.1% LFL to £23.0m ($20.1m). Driven by strong top line growth from Medical (+21.4%, MIS) & Direct (+31.9%), together climbing 26.2% to $16.5m (71.8% of group). Albeit partly offset by an 8.3% contraction at channel partners (non MIS), which reduced gross margins to 54.1% vs 56.4% LY, reflecting adverse divisional mix.
