REG - Novacyt S.A. - Half Year Trading Update

Novacyt SAAnnouncement

27/07/2023 07:15

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RNS Number : 3129H  Novacyt S.A.  27 July 2023

 

Novacyt S.A.

("Novacyt", the "Company" or the "Group")

 

Half Year Trading Update

Non-COVID sales growing quarter-on-quarter, significant progress in product
development and non-organic growth strategy

 

Paris, France and Eastleigh, UK - 27 July 2023 - Novacyt (EURONEXT GROWTH:
ALNOV; AIM: NCYT), an international specialist in clinical diagnostics,
announces its unaudited trading update for the six months ended 30 June 2023.

 

Financial highlights

·    Group revenue for H1 2023 expected to be £3.3m of which £0.5m
relates to COVID-19 (H1 2022: £16.5m of which £13.0m relates to COVID-19).

·    Revenue for non-COVID-19 portfolio of £2.8m representing 85% of
total revenues (H1 2022: £3.5m). As previously signalled, H1 2022 is a high
comparator particularly in instrumentation sales linked to COVID sales.

·    Non-COVID revenue continues to build with Q2 showing 3% growth over
Q1 and 10% growth over Q4 2022.

·    Opex in H1 2023 is expected to be in the region of £7.1m, a
reduction of c.13% vs H2 2022, reflecting restructuring plans implemented in
Q4 2022.

·    Cash position at 30 June 2023 was £81.7m (H2 2022: £87.0m) and the
Group remains debt free.

 

Well positioned for diversified organic and non-organic growth

Instrument sales have increased by over 65% in Q2 2023 compared with Q1 2023,
showing signs of market improvement following the saturation that was seen
during the COVID-19 pandemic, and non-COVID sales have increased incrementally
over the last three quarters. The Company remains focused on building on the
strength of its core business to deliver long-term sustainable growth, by
expanding its product portfolio, driving international Research Use Only (RUO)
sales and pursuing strategic business development opportunities. In line with
this strategy, the Company announced on 3 July 2023 that it had made a
recommended cash offer for Yourgene Health plc, an international integrated
technologies and services business, enabling the delivery of genomic medicine.
This is a key strategic milestone for Novacyt, which, upon anticipated
completion by end of Q3 2023, will add scale and diversification to accelerate
revenue growth and build long term value for the enlarged Group.

 

Strong R&D progress

During the period, the Company completed the development of six new multiplex
RUO assays in the target therapeutic areas of gastrointestinal, respiratory,
meningitis and other high-growth disease areas to meet the growing global
demand for multiplex products that can detect multiple diseases in a single
test. Management expects these products to begin commercialisation in the
second half of 2023.

 

On 29 June, the Company received its seventh UK Coronavirus Test Device
Approval (CTDA) for its PathFlow® COVID-19 Rapid Antigen Self-Test.

 

Focus on UKCA marking for UK clinical market

Given the importance of the UK market for Novacyt's clinical diagnostics
products, the Company will prioritise UK Conformity Assessed (UKCA) marking
for a selection of its new multiplex tests. The UKCA mark is replacing the CE
mark for all in vitro diagnostic (IVD) products sold in the UK. Under UKCA,
IVD manufacturers can continue to self-certify their products, which typically
takes six to nine months compared to 18 to 24 months to achieve a CE mark
under the new European In Vitro Diagnostic Regulation (IVDR). The Company is
planning to self-certify two of its new multiplex products for respiratory and
insect-borne diseases during H2 2023, with a further four expected in 2024.

 

In parallel, Novacyt is also progressing IVDR registration for its winter
respiratory panel, genesig™ Real-time PCR SARS-CoV-2 Winterplex, which is
expected to be completed by the end of 2024.

 

James McCarthy, Acting Group CEO of Novacyt, commented: "We have remained
focused on delivering our strategy during the first half and have made strong
progress in expanding our internal product portfolio and diversifying our
business away from COVID, as demonstrated by the Group's highly complementary
proposed acquisition of Yourgene. The launch of six new multiplex tests for
the RUO market has significantly broadened our IVD portfolio and gives us
access to additional near term revenues. With the UKCA offering a more
favourable regulatory pathway, we expect to start the self-certification
process for two of these news tests during the second half of 2023 and expect
them to be available for clinical use in the UK in H1 2024."

 

 

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of
Regulation (EU) 596/2014.

 

Contacts

 

 Novacyt SA                                                +44 (0)23 8074 8830
 James Wakefield, Non-Executive Chairman

 James McCarthy, Acting Chief Executive Officer

 SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP (Nominated Adviser and Broker)                           +44 (0)20 3470 0470

 Matthew Johnson / Charlie Bouverat (Corporate Finance)

 Vadim Alexandre / Rob Rees (Corporate Broking)

 Numis (Joint Broker)                                                                    +44 (0)20 7260 1000
 Freddie Barnfield / Duncan Monteith / Jack McLaren

 Allegra Finance (French Listing Sponsor)                                                 +33 (1) 42 22 10 10

                                                                                       r.durgetto@allegrafinance.com (mailto:r.durgetto@allegrafinance.com) /
 Rémi Durgetto / Yannick Petit                                                           y.petit@allegrafinance.com (mailto:y.petit@allegrafinance.com)

 Walbrook PR (Financial PR & IR)                           +44 (0)20 7933 8780

 Stephanie Cuthbert / Anna Dunphy / Phillip Marriage       novacyt@walbrookpr.com (mailto:novacyt@walbrookpr.com)

 

About Novacyt Group

Novacyt is an international diagnostics business delivering a broad portfolio
of in vitro and molecular diagnostic tests for a wide range of infectious
diseases, enabling faster, more accurate, accessible testing to improve
healthcare outcomes. The Company provides customers with a seamless
sample-to-result workflow using its integrated and scalable
instrumentation/solutions. The Company specialises in the design, manufacture,
and supply of real-time PCR kits, reagents and a full range of laboratory and
qPCR instrumentation for molecular biology research and clinical use. Novacyt
offers one of the world's most varied and comprehensive range of qPCR assays,
covering human, veterinary, biodefence, environmental, agriculture and food
testing.

 

Novacyt is headquartered in Vélizy in France with offices in Stokesley and
Eastleigh, UK, and is listed on the London Stock Exchange's AIM market
("NCYT") and on the Paris Stock Exchange Euronext Growth ("ALNOV").

 

For more information, please refer to the website: www.novacyt.com
(http://www.novacyt.com)

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