IXICO sees full-year results 'materially ahead' of market expectations

(Sharecast News) - AIM-listed clinical research firm IXICO said on Monday that its annual results will be "materially ahead" of current market expectations following strong revenue growth in the second half.
The company said in a trading update that growth has been accelerated by new and expanded contracts coming on line, the deployment of newly developed algorithms and faster turnaround times in trial initiation. This improved revenue performance is expected to drive additional operating leverage and IXICO now expects to build on the breakeven position reported at the half year.

The group expects results for the year to 30 September to come in stronger than market expectations in terms of both revenue and core earnings.

Chief executive officer Giulio Cerroni said: "We are delighted to see continued momentum in our revenue growth, establishing 2019 as an inflexion point in the company's progress.

"This is a fantastic achievement which reflects the company's ability to support and grow with the increasing demand for our high quality neurological imaging and data analytics services."

Shore Capital said: "We continue to see IXICO as a compelling opportunity to gain exposure to a high-growth business with accelerating momentum and a management team with renewed focus on commercial delivery.

"Prior to any updates following today's announcement, we see fair value at 62p, which is derived using a blended approach, with a fundamental discounted cashflow (DCF) indicative of the longer-term opportunity and a sales-multiple to capture the existing business."

At 0950 BST, the shares were up 29% at 43.75p.