1300SMILES kicks off a new era

Managing Director Dr Daryl Holmes has hailed the strong 2014 performance of 1300SMILES, under somewhat trying conditions. "It's the first year of the new era for 1300SMILES," he said.

"The entire dental industry has been through a period of chaos which began in 2012, with the abrupt termination of the Chronic Disease Dental Scheme."

"We've spent the past two years working hard to ensure that our company prospers in the new normal for the dental industry. Our results for 2014 show that we're on the right track."

Dr Holmes advises shareholders to treat the 2014 year as the new baseline against which the company's progress should be measured. "Make no mistake, conditions in our industry were as tough during the 2014 year as they have ever been. 1300SMILES has emerged from this difficult period more resilient and efficient than ever. Our results are more robust and more thoroughly tested than ever before."

Following a reduced interim dividend of 6.5c per share, the company's final dividend has been boosted to 8.0c, for a full year total of 14.5c. Dr. Holmes noted, "I am extremely pleased at our solid new growth since the first half of the year. Our dividend reflects this renewed progress."

The company's $1-a-day Dental Care Plan has continued its strong growth, with more than 6,000 members at the end of June. "The Dental Care Plan makes dentistry affordable for families while adding steady additional revenue for our company. This helps us with everything from the efficient use of our resources to recruiting additional dentists," said Dr Holmes.

Toward the end of the financial year 1300SMILES acquired the large and very prestigious Brisbane CBD practice, BOH Dental. Dr. Holmes commented, "Seven of BOH's ten dentists are senior specialists, creating the opportunity for more dental referrals within the 1300SMILES family."

Sponsorship of the 1300SMILES Stadium in Townsville continues to pay off. "This gets our name in front of people all over Australia every week. This is increasingly important as we have a significant presence in suburban Sydney and in Adelaide, as well as all over Queensland."

"Coincidentally, we have become the official dentists to 3 of the national football codes, thanks to our work with the NQ Toyota Cowboys, the Queensland Reds and Wallabies, in Brisbane C/BOH Dental, and the Adelaide Crows, in Adelaide.