Trading Update and Notice of Results

RNS Number : 3976D

Cambridge Cognition Holdings PLC

19 February 2020

 

Cambridge Cognition Holdings plc

("Cambridge Cognition", the "Company" or the "Group")

Trading Update

and Notice of Results

Cambridge Cognition Holdings plc (AIM: COG), which develops and markets digital solutions to assess brain health, announces a trading update for the year ended 31 December 2019.

As announced at the interim results on 19 September 2019, the first half of 2019 generated lower sales from the core business than expected due to short-term market factors, including a merger of two large customers leading to delays in finalising contracts, reduction in safety testing of two drug classes and a dip in trial initiations for Alzheimer's drugs.  This weakness continued into the third quarter, but the fourth quarter and early 2020 has seen a return to significant growth.  The detailed measures taken to overcome the mid-year market challenges are paying off with £4.1million of orders already booked for delivery and recognition in 2020.

The preliminary results for the year ended 31 December 2019 are expected to be released on 24 March 2020 and the key figures, subject to audit, are expected to be:

·      Revenue of £5.04 million (2018: £6.13 million)

·      Post tax loss for the year of £2.90 million (2018: £1.44 million loss)

·      Cash balance of £0.90 million at 31 December 2019 (31 December 2018: £1.11 million)

·      Contracted order book of £5.68 million (31 December 2018: £6.08 million).

2019 was a year of transition for the Company.  The current strength of the order book demonstrates the enormous potential for our products despite sales in the core business being lower than originally expected, as signalled at the time of our interim results. The Company continued to deliver on its strategy to become a digital health business with multiple product lines.  The Company is targeting the fast growth, overlapping electronic clinical outcomes assessment (eCOA) and digital health markets for central nervous systems disorders. 

Sales of digital solutions doubled from 2018 to 2019 with a large £1.3 million order taken early in the year. The Company also completed the development and took orders for two new solutions in 2019.  NeuroVocalix™, its patented automatic voice-based system for measuring cognition, completed a proof-of-concept trial with data from 2,868 people in Q2 2019.  The Company's new, configurable eCOA product was launched in Q4 2019.

With a shift in focus from research and development to commercialisation throughout the latter half of 2019, together with the launch of these new products and an expected improvement in its core business, the Company is positioned for growth in 2020.  While sales and marketing spend is being increased, R&D and overall administrative costs are being significantly reduced and the Company continues to expect to achieve profitability in Q4 2020 and to deliver further growth in subsequent years.

The Company today will separately announce a £1.4 million equity placing in which the Directors intend to participate.  

Enquiries:

Cambridge Cognition Holdings plc	Tel: [phone]
Matthew Stork, Chief Executive Officer	[e-mail]
Nick Walters, Chief Financial Officer
finnCap Ltd (Nomad and Joint Broker)	Tel: [phone]
Geoff Nash/ Simon Hicks	(Corporate Finance)
Alice Lane/ Manasa Patil	(Corporate Broking)
Dowgate Capital Limited (Joint Broker)	Tel: [phone]
David Poutney/ James Serjeant
IFC Advisory Ltd (Financial PR and IR)	Tel: [phone]
Tim Metcalfe/ Graham Herring/ Zach Cohen

The information communicated in this announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014.

 

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