REG - Yourgene Health PLC - Full year unaudited trading update

Yourgene HealthAnnouncement

27/04/2023 07:00

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RNS Number : 6146X  Yourgene Health PLC  27 April 2023

Yourgene Health plc

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

 

Full year unaudited trading update

 

Manchester, UK - 27 April 2023: Yourgene (AIM: YGEN), a leading international
molecular diagnostic group, provides the following unaudited trading update
for the year ended 31 March 2023 ("FY23").

 

FY23 revenues above market expectations

Yourgene expects to report revenues for FY23 of £19.0m, above market
expectations and at the mid-point of the guidance range stated in the interim
results released on 21 December 2022. Yourgene remains focussed on
accelerating the growth within its core offerings of NIPT, Ranger®
Technology, and PCR tests, for which revenue grew by 19% year-on-year. The
adjusted EBITDA(1) loss for FY23 is also expected to be in line with market
expectations.

 

International revenues are up 70% year-on-year with strong performance in the
Americas and Asia Pacific ("APAC"). This is driven by increased take up of
Ranger® Technology as an enabler for third party NIPT workflows as well as in
proprietary Yourgene workflows in the Americas and the establishment of new
NIPT laboratory customers in the region, and steady growth from Yourgene's
reproductive health and DPYD chemotoxicity tests. Strong growth was also seen
in the APAC region, driven by sales of products and NIPT services. European
sales remain suppressed due to the loss of a single NIPT account in FY22.
However, new NIPT wins in Europe commencing in late FY23, reversed this trend
and revenue is expected to show ongoing signs of recovery in FY24. UK revenues
for core products and services is up 20% year-on-year.

 

The key growth drivers in the portfolio continue to be Ranger® Technology,
NIPT and DPYD:

·    Ranger® Technology product revenues have grown by over 100% to
£2.2m, with growth driven equally by additional instrument placements and
consumable sales.

·    NIPT service and product revenues rose by over 20% to £8.5m, with
growth coming from increased sales in APAC and from the Americas.

·    FY23 saw expanded global coverage for the Company's DPYD
chemotoxicity test with revenues up 8%.

Activity continues across the Group to expand our customer reach and
applicability of our evolving set of products and services, including to
progress cross-selling initiatives. Whilst there is naturally uncertainty
around the timing and impact from conversion of these initiatives, our
pipeline of opportunities continues to build and the Board remains cautiously
optimistic about the overall growth prospects for Yourgene.

 

Capital raising and restructuring

In January 2023, the Company completed a capital raising generating net
proceeds of approximately £6.8m. As well as delivering near-term working
capital and funding for Yourgene's regulatory approval and product enhancement
programmes, these funds have been used to cover the one-off costs of further
restructuring of the Group's cost base. Since the fundraise the Company has
already delivered the first phase of its reshaping plans delivering an
annualised 10% operating cost reduction. A further annualised 15% saving has
been identified for the planned second phase.

 

As at 31 March 2023, the Company had cash of £2.8m. As announced on 17 March
2023, Peter Charles was appointed as Interim Chief Financial Officer. He is
focussed on enhancing the financial systems, planning and analysis within the
business until a successor Chief Financial Officer is found.

 

Strategic initiatives

Negotiations relating to the potential divestment of the Taiwanese laboratory
are progressing as expected; further updates will be provided in due course,
as appropriate.  Following the equity fundraise, the Board's immediate focus
has been on the internal reshaping of Yourgene's business. Whilst the
relationship with the potential strategic partner at the time of the
fundraising remains strong, the Board is mindful of pursuing any further
dilutive initiatives and it is therefore unlikely that such an investment will
take place in the near-term.

 

Full year results

Audited final results for the year ended 31 March 2023 will be announced later
than previous years, to accommodate a longer audit cycle due to regulatory and
resourcing challenges in the audit market. A Notice of Results announcement
will be issued nearer to the time of results, and Yourgene will provide
further updates on its progress as appropriate.

 

Lyn Rees, Chief Executive Officer of Yourgene, commented:

"It was difficult to reset the business plan earlier this year, but the team
and the Company have worked really hard to right size the opportunity, to
focus the Company and restructure the organisation in order to build a
sustainable and long-term business. We are pleased with the more robust
performance from our core business which has delivered strong year-on-year
growth. This performance, alongside our fundraising and actions to realign our
cost base, places us in a stronger position to drive growth from our core
offerings of NIPT, Ranger® Technology and PCR testing."

 

 

(1)Adjusted EBITDA is the operating profit/(loss) before interest, tax,
depreciation, amortisation, share-based payments and exceptional items.

 

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@yourgenehealth.com (mailto:investors@yourgenehealth.com)
 Joanne Cross, Director of Marketing

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

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

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

 

About Yourgene Health

Yourgene Health is an international integrated technologies and services
business, enabling the delivery of genomic 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 and screening solutions, for reproductive health
and precision medicine. The Group's portfolio of in vitro diagnostic products
includes non-invasive prenatal tests (NIPT) for Down's Syndrome and other
genetic disorders, Cystic Fibrosis screening tests, invasive rapid aneuploidy
tests and DPYD genotyping assays.

 

Building on our expertise in genomic technology, Yourgene's Ranger®
Technology offers next generation size selection with a range of sample
preparation platforms for dynamic target enrichment. Ranger® Technology can
be utilised to improve workflows and performance in multiple applications
including NIPT, oncology, infectious disease testing and gene synthesis.

 

Yourgene Genomic Services offers a clinical service from UK and Taiwan
focusing on precision medicine and reproductive health, including NIPT.

 

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 https://yourgenehealth.com/
(https://yourgenehealth.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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