REG - Yourgene Health PLC - Full year trading update

Yourgene HealthAnnouncement

26/04/2022 07:00

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RNS Number : 2776J  Yourgene Health PLC  26 April 2022

 

Yourgene Health plc

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

 

Full year trading update

 

Manchester, UK - 26 April 2022: Yourgene (AIM: YGEN), a leading international
molecular diagnostics group, provides the following unaudited trading update
for the year ended 31 March 2022 ("FY22").

 

FY22 performance in line with upgraded guidance

Revenues for FY22 were £37.6m, up 105% on the previous year and in line with
recently upgraded guidance.

·    Genomic Services ("GS") revenues up 239% to £21.6m (FY21: £6.4m)

-      Revenues dominated by COVID PCR testing and variant sequencing

-      Testing capacity continues to be repurposed towards non-COVID
testing, with increased capacity available following UK Government policy
shift in late February to endemic status

-      Private COVID-19 testing continues albeit at more modest levels

-      NIPT and research testing services have stabilised in recent
months after a challenging first half of the financial year, and now bolstered
by the broader oncology testing range from Ambry (announced yesterday)

·    Genomic Technologies ("GT") revenues up 34% to £16.0m (FY21:
£11.8m)

-      NIPT delivered 11% year-on-year growth in the second half of the
financial year demonstrating a rebound after pandemic headwinds affected H1
performance (up 19% vs H1 FY21)

-      Precision Medicine revenues more than doubled year-on-year and now
represent 15% of non-COVID-19 Group revenues

§ Two Ranger® Technology strategic partners (announced in March and June
2021 respectively) are now validated and using the technology in routine
clinical testing.  Significant pipeline of additional opportunities at
various stages of feasibility and validation

§ DPYD chemotoxicity revenues £1.2m for the financial year (FY21: £0.7m)

-      Clarigene® COVID-19 PCR assay revenues of £4.5m (FY21: £1.4m).
Sales are continuing into the new financial year through private testing
channels

·    EBITDA margin expected to be broadly in line with previous 10%
guidance level on a constant currency basis and before restructuring costs

 

FY23 outlook: restructuring to focus on post-pandemic growth drivers

The UK Government's reduction in COVID-19 testing has been more rapid than
anticipated across the sector, but in turn this is enabling Yourgene to focus
on accelerating the growth within the Group's core offerings of Genomic
Services, NIPT, Ranger® Technology and PCR tests.

·    Genomic Services focus areas:

-      NIPT and research services recovering as pregnancies rise and
research programmes resume

-      New partnership with Ambry Genetics, announced 25 April 2022,
delivers an oncology range of services which broaden the GS offering
significantly

-      Strategic review initiated for Taiwanese laboratory given ongoing
external constraints

·    Genomic Technologies focus areas:

-      Accelerating push into North and Latin American markets with
expanded commercial team and complementary third-party products

-      Promoting Ranger® Technology as an enabler for third party NIPT
workflows as well as in proprietary Yourgene workflows

-      Partnering to demonstrate Ranger® size selection advantages in
adjacent markets of liquid biopsy, RNA and gene synthesis

-      Launching enhancements to the Group's IONA® Nx range of NIPT
solutions, including microdeletions and related differentiators

-      Continuing to expand global coverage for the Company's DPYD
chemotoxicity test and developing complementary precision medicine content

·    Operational restructure:

-      Variable cost base is naturally reducing as COVID surge activities
recede

-      Yourgene has started consolidating its UK activities through a
programme of co-location and sharing support services between GS and GT, where
the pace of change during the pandemic originally required separation

-      As a result, the Group's annual operating cost base will reduce
significantly, by c. £5m pa on a like-for-like post-restructure basis

-      Restructure commenced in the final quarter of FY22 and will be
largely complete by the end of the first quarter of FY23. One-off
restructuring costs are anticipated to be in the range of £0.5m-£0.7m

 

Capital Markets Day

As previously announced, the Company is hosting a Capital Markets Day in the
City of London today with a morning session for institutional investors,
followed by a networking lunch. Investors who have not already registered for
this session may do so by contacting Singer Capital Markets via
investor.relations@singercm.com.

 

The event is being repeated at 4pm for non-institutional investors and will be
followed by light refreshments and an opportunity to talk to the senior
management further. To register your interest in this, please contact Walbrook
PR on 020 7933 8780 or email yourgene@walbrookpr.com.

 

For those who wish to dial in online to the afternoon session, please register
here:

https://www.investormeetcompany.com/yourgene-health-plc/register-investor
(https://www.investormeetcompany.com/yourgene-health-plc/register-investor)

 

Lyn Rees, Chief Executive Officer of Yourgene, commented: "We are pleased
that the Company's performance in the last financial year has achieved the
significantly upgraded guidance. The ongoing restructure will ensure that
Yourgene is very well placed to meet the evolving needs of its customers by
supplying an adaptable mixture of technologies and services, with our
fast-growing Genomic Services offering expected to be a strong growth engine.

 

"As COVID surge testing recedes, we are creating a more focused growth
platform to reap the benefit of previous investments. Our business has evolved
significantly over the last 12 months and we have a broader platform, service
offering and customer relationships globally from which to grow. As we reshape
the business to deliver improved profitable growth through and beyond the
post-pandemic period, we are already leveraging our technologies and our
teams' capabilities to good effect, capturing new opportunities and building
on our existing partnerships. We thank our people for their support of the
Group's continuing evolution. The consolidation of our operations will result
in a more unified and efficient Group.

 

"We are committed to creating long term shareholder value and, with further
expansion into the Americas markets, FY23 and beyond will be an exciting time
for Yourgene. I look forward to engaging with shareholders at our Capital
Markets Day later today and sharing further detail around Yourgene's
positioning and growth drivers of Genomic Services, Americas NIPT markets and
Ranger® Technology."

 

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of the UK
Market Abuse Regulation.

The Directors of the Company take responsibility for this announcement.

 

 Yourgene Health plc                                Tel: +44 (0)161 669 8122

 Lyn Rees, Chief Executive Officer                  investors@yourgene-health.com (mailto:investors@yourgene-health.com)
 Barry Hextall, Chief Financial Officer
 Joanne Cross, Director of Marketing

 Cairn Financial Advisers LLP (NOMAD)               Tel: +44 (0)20 7213 0880
 Liam Murray / James Caithie / Ludovico Lazzaretti

 Singer Capital Markets (Joint Corporate Broker)    Tel: +44 (0)20 7496 3000
 Aubrey Powell / Tom Salvesen / George Tzimas

 Stifel Nicolaus Europe Limited (Joint Corporate Broker)                                 Tel: +44 (0)20 7710 7600
 Nicholas Moore / Matthew Blawat / Ben Maddison

 Walbrook PR Ltd (Media and Investor Relations)     Tel: +44 (0)20 7933 8780 or yourgene@walbrookpr.com
 Paul McManus / Lianne Applegarth / Alice Woodings  Mob: 07980 541 893 / 07584 391 303 / 07407 804 654

 

 

About Yourgene Health

 

Yourgene Health is an international molecular diagnostics group which develops
integrated genomic technologies and services enabling precision medicine. The
group works in partnership with global leaders in DNA technology to advance
diagnostic science.

 

Yourgene primarily develops, manufactures, and commercialises simple and
accurate molecular diagnostic solutions, for reproductive health, precision
medicine and now infectious diseases. The Group's flagship products include
non-invasive prenatal tests (NIPT) for Down's Syndrome and other genetic
disorders, Cystic Fibrosis screening tests, invasive rapid aneuploidy tests,
and a recent extension into the oncology space with DPYD genotyping.

 

The launch of Yourgene Genomic Services has enabled Yourgene to offer a global
laboratory service network equipped to be a full life-cycle partner for
clinical, research and pharmaceutical organisations to support partners at the
preclinical, clinical, and post-market stages to develop, manufacture, obtain
regulatory approval and commercialise new products and services. In addition,
Yourgene Genomic Services offers an NIPT and high throughput COVID-19 testing
service.

 

In August 2020, Yourgene acquired Coastal Genomics, Inc., a sample preparation
technology company based in Vancouver, Canada, enabling the Company to extend
its offering and IP portfolio in the DNA sample preparation sector. The
acquisition increased Yourgene's geographical penetration into the US and
Canada, supplementing existing coverage in the UK, Europe, MEA and Asia.

 

Yourgene Health is headquartered in Manchester, UK with offices in Taipei,
Singapore, the US and Canada, and is listed on the London Stock Exchange's AIM
market under the ticker "YGEN". For more information visit
www.yourgene-health.com (http://www.yourgene-health.com/) and follow us on
twitter @Yourgene_Health.

 

 

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements made in this announcement are forward-looking statements.
These forward-looking statements are not historical facts but rather are based
on the Company's current expectations, estimates, and projections about its
industry; its beliefs; and assumptions. Words such as 'anticipates,'
'expects,' 'intends,' 'plans,' 'believes,' 'seeks,' 'estimates,' and similar
expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These
statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to known
and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, some of which are beyond
the Company's control, are difficult to predict, and could cause actual
results to differ materially from those expressed or forecasted in the
forward-looking statements. The Company cautions security holders and
prospective security holders not to place undue reliance on these
forward-looking statements, which reflect the view of the Company only as of
the date of this announcement. The forward-looking statements made in this
announcement relate only to events as of the date on which the statements are
made. The Company will not undertake any obligation to release publicly any
revisions or updates to these forward-looking statements to reflect events,
circumstances, or unanticipated events occurring after the date of this
announcement except as required by law or by any appropriate regulatory
authority.

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