20 Jul 2012 07:00
Amphion Innovations plc
Trading Update
London and New York, 20 July 2012 - Amphion Innovations plc (LSE: AMP) ("Amphion" or the "Company"), the developer of companies in the medical and technology sectors, expects to announce interim results for the six months to 30 June 2012 in the week beginning 24 September 2012. Revenue for the six month period is expected to be lower than in the first six months of 2011 but slightly higher than in the second half of last year. The substantial commitment we have made to the further expansion of DataTern's intellectual property licensing programme has resulted in increased expenses and delays in the pace of settlements. However, we are preparing for the court hearings in New York with SAP and Microsoft which are expected to start later this month. In addition, court hearings are expected to take place shortly in Texas and Massachusetts where together there are 24 cases pending. Although the operating loss for the first six months is expected to be higher than last year, the net profit for the period is expected to show an increase due to the fair value gains in the holdings of Axcess and Kromek.
As a result, the Company's Net Asset Value at the end of June is expected to be higher than at 31 December 2011 which was reported at $0.20 (£0.13). The expected increase in net asset value is largely due to the recovery in the share price of Axcess since the year end, combined with an expected higher carrying value for the holding of Kromek shares. During the first six months, Axcess made good progress in the programme to obtain licensing revenue from Savi (a subsidiary of Lockheed Martin) for infringement of Axcess' intellectual property. The ruling in the pre-trial Markman hearing in April was favourable and the trial date has been set for 5 November 2012. Axcess' portfolio of patents covers key functionality and applications which are believed to be widely used by other companies without a license. Kromek also made good progress with the introduction of a range of new radiation detection products which were launched recently, and are now being offered for sale in Japan (as a direct result of the disasterous Fukushima nuclear meltdown) and other countries considering the deployment of improved monitoring and measurement systems at nuclear facilities. Kromek successfully raised additional equity financing at £8.40 per share (up from £7.20 per share previously) and this increase is expected to be reflected in the half-year results.
We are also pleased to report progress in some of our other Partner Companies during the first half of the year. Motif recently agreed an important partnership with Jubilant Life Sciences which will cover a collaboration on the development of two new compounds for MRSA and for over-active bladder. Each of these is an important medical condition with unmet needs. Motif's programmes have been designed by Motif's team of pharmaceutical executives, each of whom brings substantial experience and specialised insight to the drug discovery process. Motif's business model is to develop improved versions of existing compounds which are known to have pharmaceutical activity and where the probability is high of producing better therapies on a rapidly accelerated timescale. Jubilant Life Sciences Limited is an integrated pharmaceutical and life sciences company based in India. It was recently ranked No.6 amongst the Top 10 Global contract manufacturing and services outsourcing players in the pharmaceutical industry and is a leading Drug Discovery and Development Solution (DDDS) provider. The partnership with Jubilant is expected to be a critical success factor, bringing substantial world-class capabilities to bear on the programmes.
In addition, under the company's new leadership, WellGen is making progress towards the launch of a beverage product developed in collaboration with its new partners, aimed at the sports recovery market. WellGen's proprietary ingredient has been shown in human clinical trials to reduce inflammation with no observed side-effects. This new product is expected to be one of the first in this growing market, combining both attractive taste and appearance with proven functional benefits to people recovering from exercise-induced muscle soreness.
We continue to have confidence in our business model, the strength of the IP programme, and the potiential of each of our Partner Companies and we are working hard to develop and extract the inherent value in each one. While market conditions remain challenging and volatile, we remain focused on adapting and evolving new strategies to generate and extract value for our shareholders.
For further information please contact:
Amphion Innovations
Charlie Morgan: +1 (212) 210-6224
Cardew Group
Tim Robertson: +44 020 7930 0777
Seymour Pierce Limited, Nominated Adviser
Freddy Crossley/ Mark Percy: +44 020 7107 8000
About Amphion Innovations plc
Amphion (LSE: AMP) builds shareholder value in emerging companies in the medical and technology sectors, by using a focused, hands-on company building approach, based on decades of experience in both the US and UK. Amphion has significant shareholding in 7 Partner Companies developing proven technologies targeting substantial commercial marketplaces. The Amphion model has been refined to optimise the commercialisation of patents and other intellectual property within the Partner Companies. The Partner Companies collectively own or control over 200 separately identified pieces of intellectual property, a number which grows rapidly each year.
On the web: www.amphionplc.com