CRH Medical Announces First Quarter Results

-First Quarter Revenue Increases 9% Compared to Same Period Last Year –

VANCOUVER, B.C. – April 23, 2013 – CRH Medical Corporation (TSX: CRH, OTCQX: CRMMF), a North American medical company focussed on providing physicians with innovative products for the treatment of gastrointestinal diseases, today announced its unaudited financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2013. All financial results are expressed in U.S dollars.

First Quarter Financial Highlights               

“The first quarter of 2013 marked another consecutive period of steady revenue growth,” said Edward Wright, Chief Executive Officer of CRH Medical. “We continued to invest a portion of our net income towards initiatives that we believe will accelerate revenue growth such as the Clinical Support Specialist Program. As expected, these initiatives caused our operating expenses to increase and our quarter-over-quarter net income to decrease.  For the remainder of the year, we will continue to invest in initiatives that we believe will support our long-term revenue growth.”

The Company’s lead product, the O’Regan System is a single use, disposable, hemorrhoid treatment that is safe and highly effective in treating hemorrhoid grades I – IV.  The Company’s goal is to establish the O’Regan System as the standard of care for hemorrhoid treatment. In addition to the product, CRH Medical delivers clinical, marketing and operational support directly to its partner physicians.

Operational Highlights

• Improved its Clinical Support Specialist Program by directly employing the clinical support specialists who were previously contracted through Magellan Medical Technology Consultants Inc. CRH is encouraged by the early results of this Program and believes that direct management of the clinical support specialists more effectively aligns them with CRH’s existing infrastructure. The objective of the Clinical Support Specialist Program is to effectively support the Company’s long-term revenue growth and profitability. The Company’s four field reps continue to work to increase the adoption of the CRH O’Regan System within practices already trained by the Company, and to introduce the technology to practices not yet trained.

• As of March 31, 2013 the Company had trained 1,397 physicians to use the O’Regan System, representing 485 clinical practices. During the same period a year earlier, the Company had trained 1,120 physicians, representing 370 clinical practices.

• As of March 31, 2013, the Company had $4,965,839 in cash and cash equivalents compared to $4,511,770 as of December 31, 2012.

First Quarter, 2013 Conference Call Notification

CRH Medical intends to host a telephone conference call to discuss its first quarter results on April 23, 2013 at 5:00 pm Eastern Time. The telephone numbers for the conference call are (888) 231-8191 or (647) 427-7450.

At the call’s completion, an audio replay will be available by calling (855) 859-2056 and using passcode 24136939. The phone replay will be available through May 7, 2013.

Financial Results

Revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2013 was $1,835,782 compared to $1,691,507 for the three months ended March 31, 2012. The increase in revenue is the result of the Company’s sales of its CRH O’Regan System direct to physicians.

Product sales expenses for the three months ended March 31, 2013 were $1,158,578 compared to $873,706 for the three months ended March 31, 2012. The increase in product sales expenses is primarily the result of Clinical Support Specialist Program announced in September 2012. Product sales expenses also increased as a result of the 2010 United States federal health care law’s tax on medical devices that went into effect January 1, 2013. The law requires medical device manufactures to pay an excise tax equal to 2.3% of product sales.

Corporate and other expenses for the three months ended March 31, 2013 were $403,681 compared to $447,316 for the three months ended March 31, 2012.

For the three months ended March 31, 2013, the Company recorded net income of $273,524 ($0.006 basic and diluted income per share) compared to a net income of $370,485 ($0.008 basic and diluted income per share) for the three months ended March 31, 2012.

The Company’s March 31, 2013 financial report and corresponding MD&A will be available on www.sedar.com and the Company website at www.crhmedcorp.com.

About CRH Medical Corporation:

CRH Medical Corporation is North American company focussed on providing physicians with innovative products for the treatment of gastrointestinal diseases. The Company’s lead product, the CRH O’Regan System, is a single use, disposable, hemorrhoid treatment that is safe and highly effective in treating hemorrhoid grades I – IV. The O’Regan System is rapidly emerging as the standard of care with gastroenterologists who treat hemorrhoids. In addition to the product, CRH Medical delivers clinical, marketing and operational support directly to its partner physicians. CRH utilizes its web-based platform to connect doctors with patients as well as educating its ever increasing install base of physicians.

For more information, please contact:

Edward Wright, Chief Executive Officer
CRH Medical Corporation
604.633.1440 x1008
ewright@crhmedcorp.com

or

Adam Peeler, Media and Investor Relations
TMX Equicom
416.815.0700 x 225
apeeler@tmxequicom.com

 

Forward looking statements:

The information in this news release contains so-called “forward-looking” statements. These include statements regarding CRH Medical’s expectations and plans relating to its business, statements about CRH Medical’s expectations, beliefs, intentions or strategies for the future, which may be indicated by words or phrases such as “anticipate”, “expect”, “intend”, “plan”, “will”, “we believe”, “CRH Medical believes”, “management believes”, and similar language. All forward-looking statements are based on CRH Medical’s current expectations and are subject to risks and uncertainties and to assumptions made. Assumptions include: (i) that the growth of CRH’s product sales will continue in a consistent manner; (ii) CRH’s costs will not escalate significantly; and (iii) CRH does not incur any extraordinary costs.

Important risk factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements include: (i) we may not continue to attract Gastroenterologists and other licensed providers to purchase and use the CRH O’Regan System; (ii) the policies of health insurance carriers in the United States may affect the amount of revenue the Company receives; (iii) changes in United States federal or state laws, rules, and regulations; (iv) our senior management has been key to our growth, and we may be adversely affected if we lose any member of our senior management; (v) Our Clinical Sales Representatives may not be able to increase adoption of the CRH O’Regan System; (vi) economic dependence on suppliers and our contract manufacturer; (vii) changes in the industry and the economy may affect the Company’s business; (viii) evolving regulation of corporate governance and public disclosure may result in additional corporate expenses; (ix) we may be subject to competition and technological risk which may impact the price and amount of product we can sell; (x) we may be subject to product liability which may adversely affect our operations; (xi) we may need to raise additional capital to fund future operations; (xii) our business may be impacted by health care reform in the United States; (xiii) we may not have the expertise required to expand internationally. As a single product company, any adverse event directly or indirectly related to the CRH O’Regan System will have a material impact on the Company’s financial performance. CRH Medical bases its forward-looking statements on information currently available to it, and assumes no obligation to update them, except as required by la