Trading Update & Notice of Results

RNS Number : 8326P

Omega Diagnostics Group PLC

10 October 2011

 



Omega Diagnostics Group Plc

("Omega" or the "Group")

Trading Update & Notice of Results

Omega, the AIM listed medical diagnostics company announces the following trading update for the six months to 30 September 2011, in advance of releasing its interim results on Friday 25 November 2011.

Turnover is expected to be £5.53 million (2010: £3.30 million) in the period, approximately 68% ahead of the same period last year due mainly to the contribution from the allergy business acquired in December 2010, there being no contribution in the prior period.  The expected breakdown of turnover by segment is as follows:

·     Allergy and autoimmune revenue up 744% to £2.28m (2010: £0.27m)

·     Food intolerance revenue up by 12% to £1.84m (2010: £1.65m)

·     Infectious disease/other revenue up 2% to £1.41m (2010: £1.38m)

BRIC country focus

Brazil, Russia, India and China remain a focus for the Group, being markets with the potential for major growth.   India in particular has been one of the largest global markets for the Group for many years and as such, having the right channels to market in place ahead of launching allergy tests is key.  We therefore took the decision to set up a direct presence in India via the recent establishment of a wholly owned subsidiary; Omega Dx (Asia) Pvt Ltd.  The initial costs of this operation will be minimal and scale up will only take place to coincide with completion of product registrations.  Having a direct presence will enable us to retain control over the supply chain of allergy products to end users but will also act as a resource that can provide distribution to other companies' products that could provide near term benefits.

Research and development

Good progress has been made with the IDS-iSYS development programme.  We now have a functional total IgE assay that is calibrated against the international standard, a necessary first step towards developing specific IgE assays.  We have demonstrated feasibility for biotinylated liquid allergens to be used on the IDS-iSYS system for a representative sample of eight allergens (covering mites, animals, food, trees, grasses and weeds). Our materials correlate well with commercially available biotinylated liquid allergens in testing patient samples. Some experiments remain to be done to estimate the comparison of these eight allergens on the IDS-iSYS system with a leading commercial product after which we will move into an assay optimisation phase.  At that point we expect to be able give an update on expected timelines.

Allergozyme®

The priority of distributing Allergozyme® (the collective trademark for Allergen disc products and associated test kits) through the Omega distribution network advanced with the official launch at the end of September of the full 600+ range of products, including an improvement in certain product components.  Efforts will be concentrated on converting customer evaluations into sales in those territories with little or no product registration lead times.

Outlook

Trading in the first half is slightly ahead of management expectations.  The second-half performance will be dependent on the successful roll-out of Allergozyme® products, in addition to continued growth with core products such as Genarrayt® and Food Detective®.  Whilst the visibility of Allergozyme® export sales is uncertain at this stage, the Directors are confident in the prospects for this range.

Contacts: 

Omega Diagnostics Group PLC	Tel: [phone]
Andrew Shepherd, Chief Executive
Kieron Harbinson, Group Finance Director	www.omegadiagnostics.com
Cenkos Securities plc	Tel: [phone]
Ian Soanes Elizabeth Bowman
Walbrook PR Limited
Paul McManus	Tel: [phone]
	Mob: [phone]
	[e-mail]
Fiona Henson	Tel: [phone]
	Mob: [phone]
	[e-mail]

 

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