Last checked at 
(Alliance News) - Ovoca Bio PLC on Friday posted a slightly narrowed loss in 2019 following investment and admin losses in 2018.
Shares in Ovoca were up 10% at 12.40 pence in London in late morning trading.
The women's health-focused firm, based in Dublin, reported a pretax loss of EUR1.9 million for 2019, narrowed from EUR2.0 million the previous year.
This included a small 0.4% increase in administration expenses to EUR2.32 million from EUR2.31 million.
However, the narrowed loss mostly resulted from a swing to other gains of GBP34,000 from other losses of EUR128,000 in 2018. This EUR128,000 of other losses the year before included EUR55,000 of investment loss and EUR92,000 of loss on admin, only partially offset by a EUR19,000 biopharma gain.
At the end of 2019, Ovoca had cash and cash equivalents totalling EUR10.2 million, up from EUR2.0 million the previous year.
Chief Executive Kirill Golovanov said: "In these economically unsettled times brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic, it is important to have sound finances, and we are pleased to report that Ovoca Bio continues to have a strong capital base. This will be used to support the exciting development of our lead programme, BP-101 in [hypoactive sexual desire disorder], and selectively to expand the pipeline where attractive opportunities are identified in women's health. The board remains highly optimistic for the future of the company and its potential to realise significant value for our shareholders."
By Anna Farley; annafarley@alliancenews.com
Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.