Correction : Interim Results

Bioventix plc
(“Bioventix” or the “Company”)

Correction - Unaudited Interim Results for the six months ended 31 December 2019
 

The Company has become aware that due to an administration error a sales rebate of $219k (£167k) was not entered into the accounting system.  Consequently revenues for the six month period were £5.1m not the £5.3m as reported on 30 March 2020.  Pre tax profits were £4.1m as opposed to £4.3m as previously stated.  The cash figure and interim dividend remain unchanged.

The revised results are as stated below.

Bioventix plc (BVXP) (“Bioventix” or “the Company”), a UK company specialising in the development and commercial supply of high-affinity monoclonal antibodies for applications in clinical diagnostics, announces its unaudited interim results for the six-month period ended 31 December 2019.

Highlights

• Revenue up 17% to £5.1 million (2018: £4.4 million)
• Profit before tax up 26% to £4.1 million (2018: £3.2 million)
• Closing cash balances unchanged at £5.5 million
• First interim dividend up 20% to 36p per share (2018: 30p)

CHAIRMAN AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE’S STATEMENT

Business review

We are pleased to announce a strong performance for the unaudited interim results for the six-month period ended 31 December 2019 with revenues for the half-year of £5.1 million (2018: £4.4 million) up 17% on the previous year. 

Total profits before tax for the half-year increased by 26% to £4.1 million (2018: £3.2 million).  The cash balances remained very similar, finishing the period unchanged at £5.5 million. 

Vitamin D antibody sales continued at the healthy levels seen during the previous financial year and this contributed towards the growth.  Whilst this is very encouraging, we continue to see evidence of a plateau in the downstream global vitamin D assay market.  We have previously commented on the impressive performance of two specific customers in the downstream vitamin D test market - Diazyme (San Diego, US) and Boditech (South Korea) – and their sales continued to grow. 

Other revenue streams for the core of established antibodies showed modest growth during the period. Added to this were increased sales of a number of newer antibodies (T4/thyroxine, androstenedione and biotin). 

Sales relating to troponin antibodies grew significantly during the period.  Whilst the actual sales were slightly below our expectation, the percentage growth provides encouraging evidence of the roll-out of these new tests and for the future sales performance. 

Our research activities continue in line with the plans described in the 2019 annual report.  Whilst we will report further on these various projects with our full year results, we are particularly pleased with the development of our pollution exposure assay.  We have successfully tested a prototype lab-based ELISA method and this will progress towards commercial kit manufacture during the second half of calendar 2020.  Our hope is that we will have a lab-based kit available for sale to pollution researchers sometime during calendar 2021.  In addition to the pollution research market, it is also possible that the test will have a degree of utility in the health and safety field (i.e. industrial worker biomonitoring).  We will initially introduce the test directly to interested parties before seeking appropriate commercial partners for the future. 

With the exception of COVID-19, the overall context of the business and the landscape in which we operate has not materially changed since the 2019 annual report and we draw the attention of any new shareholders to this report. 

We have continued with the development of our Farnham laboratory.  The work on our manufacturing facilities has been completed and we are now fully operational.  The last remaining phase of the development work (cost ~£100k) covering the technology development lab is planned for later in 2020. 

In relation to the comments below regarding COVID-19, Bioventix is a resilient business and the Board will continue to follow our established dividend policy.  For the period under review, the Board is pleased to announce a first interim dividend of 36p per share which represents a 20% increase on last year. 

The shares will be marked ex-dividend on 9 April 2020 and the dividend will be paid on 28 April 2020 to shareholders on the register at close of business on 14 April 2020.

We would like to offer some comments on and the impact of COVID-19 on Bioventix, accepting that perspectives on the infection have tended to be overtaken by rapidly changing events.  Like many companies, we will be subject to the effects of COVID-19.  Circumstances have changed quickly during the last few weeks and therefore we will limit our comments to some general observations that we believe to be accurate.  In most affected countries, healthcare and associated products and services have been prioritised and so we expect that our customers will continue to operate and that we will continue to supply antibodies to them.  Within the field of our customers in downstream in vitro diagnostics, it is possible that some routine diagnostic testing could be reduced as hospitals refocus towards virus-infected patients and this could have an impact on Bioventix into the future.  Regarding our own activities in Farnham, the welfare of our staff is our top priority.  We will be following Government guidelines on working practices which could result in staff shortages.  During 2020, we will aim to maintain the production and supply of commercial SMAs to our customers.  We have already implemented a raw material purchasing strategy that minimises the possibility of reagent supply shortages and we hold large stocks of final products which offers a degree of buffering against adverse effects. 

In conclusion, we are encouraged by the performance for the current half-year and pleased with the continued success of our vitamin D antibody and core antibody business.  We remain optimistic about our troponin revenues and the success of these high sensitivity troponin products around the world and we look forward to further progress in the second half of the year. 

 

P Harrison                                       I J Nicholson

Chief Executive Officer                    Non-Executive Chairman

 

For further information please contact:

Bioventix plc
Peter Harrison 
Chief Executive Officer  Tel: [phone]
 
finnCap Ltd
Geoff Nash/Simon Hicks
Alice Lane 
Corporate Finance
ECM  Tel: [phone]