(Alliance News) -Â Firms providing Covid-19 testing services noted the UK government's planned changes to international travel rules, seeing the potential for more outbound travel, but SourceBio International PLC on Monday warned on full-year growth expectations.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps revealed on Friday that the traffic light system is set to be replaced from October 4 by a single, reduced "red list" of destinations from where travellers arriving in England will have to quarantine in a government-supervised hotel.
People who are fully vaccinated will no longer need a pre-departure test before returning from non-red list destinations, and from the end of October they will be able to replace the day-two PCR test with a cheaper lateral flow test.
Consumer home-testing healthcare company MyHealthChecked PLC late Friday said its first half revenue jumped to GBP3.3 million from just GBP12,700 a year ago, driven by Covid-19 testing services. This trend has continued into the third quarter, with monthly testing volumes exceeding those seen in the final two months of the first half.
Even with the planned changes to UK travel rules, it remains confident that monthly testing volumes will remain a "significant contributor" to growth throughout the remainder of the financial year.
"The requirements surrounding PCR testing for out-bound travel, the 'Fit to Fly' scheme, have not changed and directors expect to see these volumes continuing. The directors also expect that these newly announced changes to international travel will encourage more people to travel abroad from the UK, and that this will contribute to a rise in out-bound testing volumes," it said.
SourceBio International on Monday also said it expects the changes will boost demand for travel from the UK.
However, while it expects full-year revenue and adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation to show "dramatic growth" on the year before, changes to travel PCR testing are "expected to impact on the level of this expected material growth".
The provider of laboratory services is "evaluating" full-year 2021 and 2022.
It did add that it has signed two commercial distribution agreements for lateral flow tests, noting that the travel rule changes will likely prompt a switch in demand to cheaper lateral flows, which can be done at home, from the more expensive PCR tests, which need to be processed in a lab.
"The board continues to respond to a fast-moving Covid-19 testing market place in order to maximise business potential," said SourceBio.
Shares in MyHealthChecked were up 7.5% at 2.31 pence in London on Monday, while SourceBio shares were down 16% at 136.00p.
By Lucy Heming;Â lucyheming@alliancenews.com
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