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(Alliance News) - Abingdon Health PLC on Thursday said that it remains confident in its near-term prospects, and will focus on revenue growth and cost-cutting as it looks to swing to profit.
Shares were down 15% for the York, England-based lateral flow test contract development and manufacturing company, currently trading at 10.17 pence each in London at midday on Thursday.
The company's revenue more than doubled to GBP2.4 million for the six months ended December 31, from GBP1.1 million a year before. Abingdon credits the growth to its "contract service customer base across lateral flow research & development, technical transfer, manufacturing, analytical and regulatory services".
As of December 31, Abingdon had GBP1.9 million in cash, down from GBP3.2 in June. The company said it remains focused on "stringent cost control" alongside revenue growth to achieve positive cash flow. In October, the group reported a pretax loss of GBP3.6 million for the year ended June 30, narrowed from GBP21.6 million year-on-year.
Looking ahead, Abingdon said it is confident for the second half of the year, thanks to its pipeline of upcoming projects across its contract research and contract development and manufacturing organisation divisions. The company also noted "encouraging" progress for its Abingdon Simply Test e-commerce platform, which offers self-tests and wellbeing information to consumers.
Abingdon also confirmed that Laura Towse had been promoted to group financial controller, which took effect last Monday. Interim Finance Director Andrew Feather will leave the Abingdon by the end of the month.
Chief Executive Officer Chris Yates said: "We are pleased to report triple digit revenue growth in the first six months of the financial year. We remain focused on continuing to drive revenue growth and strengthening our position as a leading lateral flow CDMO contract services business. We look forward to continuing to support the product development plans of our existing customers and we are also encouraged by the breadth and depth of the pipeline of contract service opportunities we are pursuing."
In a separate update, Abingdon said it had agreed with a takeover and mergers panel to remove Co-Founder Brett Pollard from one of its concert parties. In August, the company agreed to split its concert party, put in place upon Abingdon's 2020 initial public offering, into three separate parties. Pollard has now been removed from the "Founder Group". Abingdon's update did not provide a reason for the removal of Pollard.
By Hugh Cameron, Alliance News reporter
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