The Pro Medicus Limited (ASX: PME) share price has been amongst the best performers on the Australian share market today with a 7% gain to $14.92.
This latest gain means that the medical imaging company's shares are closing in on their all-time high and are up 95% since this time last year.
Why is the Pro Medicus share price storming higher?
This morning Pro Medicus released its half year results which revealed further impressive top line and bottom line growth.
During the six months to December 31, the company posted a 59.4% increase in revenue to $25.3 million and a 79.9% jump in underlying net profit after tax to $9.2 million.
This was driven by strong growth in all its key markets. Revenue increased by 40% in North America, by 30% in Australia, and by 204% in Europe.
This strong form allowed the company to declare a fully franked interim dividend of 2.5 cents per share and a special fully franked dividend of 3.5 cents per share.
The company's CEO, Dr Sam Hupert, appeared to be very pleased with the company's performance during the first half.
Dr Hupert said "The interim result was particularly pleasing in that we saw solid growth in all three major jurisdictions. There was a significant up-tick in transaction revenues in the US as a greater number of transactions flowed from our Yale and Mayo implementations, our implementations in Australia are progressing well and our wholly-owned European subsidiary, Visage Imaging GmbH, signed a A$3+million extension to the contract it has with a large German Government Hospital network."
Pleasingly, the company is well placed to continue its growth. Dr Hupert revealed that its "North American pipeline continues to be strong both in terms of quantity and quality of prospects and we are seeing an increasing number of new opportunities, so we feel we are well placed."
Should you invest?
Whilst Pro Medicus' shares appear expensive at 92x trailing earnings, I think they are fairly priced given its current growth profile.
I believe the quality of its products and their sizeable market opportunities means Pro Medicus is capable of growth its earnings at a strong enough rate over the next decade to justify this premium.
This could make it worth considering along with fellow fast-growing healthcare shares Nanosonics Ltd (ASX: NAN) and Volpara Health Technologies Ltd (ASX: VHT). Though, it is a high risk option given the premium and may be unsuitable for some investors.
