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(Alliance News) - Fusion Antibodies PLC on Tuesday said its loss gapped wider after a weak first half brought annual revenue down 19%, though this was followed by a much stronger second half.
The antibody engineering services firm's pretax loss for its financial year that ended March 31 was GBP1.5 million, more than double its GBP711,361 loss the year before.
Revenue dropped 19% to GBP2.2 million from GBP2.7 million. Chair Simon Douglas attributed this to "pricing pressures and new competition" in the first half of the company's year.
Administrative expenses rose slightly to GBP2.4 million versus GBP3.2 million the year prior.
Fusion Antibodies Chief Executive Paul Kerr said: "We have had a strong improvement during the second half of the year which has been due to a significant increase in orders and revenues. This has been achieved by a mix of factors including addressing the external competitive pressures seen during H2 FY 2018 and H1 FY 2019 and expanding and improving the quality of the ompany's business development and marketing function."
Since the end of its year, Douglas said, trading has been in line with the company's expectations, with order acquisition robust and revenue levels on track.
The stock was up 36% at 72.90 pence Tuesday morning in London.
