Advanced Medical Solutions Group Regulatory News (AMS)

11 July 2023

Advanced Medical Solutions Group plc

("AMS" or the "Group")

Half Year Trading update

On track to meet expectations for the Full Year 2023

Winsford, UK: Advanced Medical Solutions Group plc (AIM: AMS), the world-leading specialist in tissue-healing technologies, today announces a trading update for the six months ended 30 June 2023 ("the Period"). The Group expects to announce its interim results on Wednesday 20 September 2023. 

During the Period, the Group has made significant progress in a number of key projects which are expected to establish substantial, new commercial opportunities in the short to medium term:

· Pre-Market Approval (PMA) of LiquiBandFix8® for use in hernia surgery, granted ahead of schedule and seven months after submission. Partner selection is in the late stages of contract negotiation and is expected to complete in time for a Q4 2023 launch

· US LiquiBand® partner negotiations are progressing well as the Group executes its new route to market strategy. The associated destocking has been largely completed and ordering is expected to return to normal in H2 2023 with accelerated growth thereafter

· Recruitment for the 160 patient SEAL-G® and SEAL-G® MIST clinical study is nearing completion with the last patient procedure to be completed imminently. The European soft launch of the product is on track for H2 2023

· Woundcare pipeline delivering increased orders from multiple partners

First Half Guidance 2023

As previously reported, our strategic initiative to accelerate 2024 US LiquiBand® growth resulted in a disruption to ordering patterns in H1. Order volumes are expected to normalise during the second half of the year, with accelerated growth from 2024 onwards. Despite this significant headwind in the first half, growth was delivered in other parts of the business and revenue for the Period is expected to be about 8% higher than last year, at approximately £62.8 - £63.2million (H1 2022: £58.3 million).

Given the short-term downturn in US LiquiBand® sales, coupled with lower Organogenesis royalty payments in the first half, operating margins were impacted by product mix effects and the Board expects to report H1 adjusted profit before tax of £13.4 million - £13.8 million (H1 2022: £13.6 million).

Full Year 2023 and Outlook

Both Business Units are forecasting increased volumes in the second half of 2023. With business improving, full year 2023 revenue and adjusted profit before tax is expected to be in line with current consensus forecasts with improving product mix expected to result in earnings being more second half weighted, as set out at the time of our preliminary results. It is anticipated that progress made on key projects in the year, including the soft launch of Seal-G® in Europe and launch of LiquiBandFix8® in the US, will set the foundation for accelerated growth in 2024 and beyond.

Chris Meredith, Chief Executive Officer of AMS, commented: "AMS is on track to meet expectations for 2023 and to accelerate its growth thereafter as its expanding range of innovative products gains traction in key markets. I am very pleased with the progress we have made across the Group in the first half, especially with the speed of approval of the LiquiBandFix8® Pre-Market Approval and progress with partner discussions in the US for both LiquiBand® and LiquiBandFix8®."

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About Advanced Medical Solutions Group plc

AMS is a world-leading independent developer and manufacturer of innovative tissue-healing technology, focused on quality outcomes for patients and value for payers. AMS has a wide range of surgical products including tissue adhesives, sutures, haemostats, internal fixation devices and internal sealants, which it markets under its brands LiquiBand®, RESORBA®, LiquiBandFix8® and Seal-G®. AMS also supplies wound care dressings such as silver alginates, alginates and foams through its ActivHeal® brand as well as under white label. Since 2019, the Group has made five acquisitions: Sealantis, an Israeli developer of innovative internal sealants; Biomatlante, a French developer and manufacturer of surgical biomaterials, Raleigh, a leading UK coater and converter of woundcare and bio-diagnostics materials, AFS Medical, an Austrian specialist surgical business and Connexicon, an Irish tissue adhesives specialist.

AMS's products, manufactured in the UK, Germany, France, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic and Israel, are sold globally via a network of multinational or regional partners and distributors, as well as via AMS's own direct sales forces in the UK, Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic and Russia. The Group has R&D innovation hubs in the UK, Ireland, Germany, France and Israel. Established in 1991, the Group has more than 800 employees. For more information, please see www.admedsol.com.