6 Nov 2017 12:53
6 November 2017
Concepta plc
("Concepta" or the "Company")
TRADING AND ORDER UPDATE
Concepta plc (AIM: CPT), the pioneering UK healthcare company and developer of a proprietary platform and suite of products targeted at the personalised mobile health market with a primary focus on women's fertility and specifically unexplained infertility, announces that it has received notice from a distributor that it will formally place an order for £600,000 this month. However, due to third party supplier constraints, revenues from this expected order will be realised in Q1 2018, meaning that 2017 revenues will be lower than market expectations. Orders have been increasing during the second half of October, and with further new distributors being appointed in November and indications of a number of additional new orders, the Board expects the delayed revenue to be additive to the 2018 budget.
Concepta sources components for its myLotus products from both UK and Chinese manufacturers. The supplier of the myLotus monitor has reported a longer lead time for procuring one of the chemicals required in the manufacturing of the plastic at one of their third party suppliers. The delay in the delivery date affects approximately half of the components required to fulfil the orders and revenues as previously forecast for the current year. The Board now anticipates that the delivery of the shortfall will fall into Q1 2018.
To prevent any future delays with the supply chain, David Darrock, recently appointed Chief Operating Officer, will head the supply chain management process to ensure future volume requirements are met. David has significant experience managing Chinese supply chains and he will be tasked with sourcing additional suppliers to ensure that the supply chain is robust so as to cover all future requirements.
Erik Henau, CEO of Concepta plc said: "Despite the supplier constraints, the Company has made significant progress this year, establishing initial revenues and a growing order book, and the Board expects 2018 to be a transformational year for the Company. The Company has made notable progress towards widespread hospital distribution in China and its direct-to-consumer launch in Europe, providing a fertility platform to address the universal issue of unexplained infertility that women and couples face. Concepta recently announced the signing of two new distributors and expects to announce further signings and orders in the near future. These are expected following the product launch conference on the 22nd November in Shanghai, which will be attended by additional distributors and doctors. Beyond this, we see a considerable opportunity for myLotus to become an integral tool for healthcare systems to provide personalised healthcare with better patient outcomes at reduced healthcare costs."
Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure
Certain information contained in this announcement would have been deemed inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 until the release of this announcement.
Enquiries:
Concepta plc
Erik Henau
CEO
Tel: +44 (0) 1234 866601
SPARK Advisory Partners Limited (Nomad)
Neil Baldwin / Mark Brady
Tel: +44 (0)20 368 3550
Beaufort Securities Limited (Broker)
Jon Belliss
Tel: +44 (0)20 7382 8300
Yellow Jersey (Financial PR)
Georgia Colkin / Joe Burgess / Katie Bairsto
Tel: +44 (0)7825916715
About Concepta plc:
Concepta plc is a pioneering UK healthcare company that has developed a proprietary platform and products targeted at the personalised mobile health market with a primary focus on women's fertility and specifically unexplained infertility*.
Founded in 2013, Concepta has developed a revolutionary flagship product 'myLotus' for home self-testing that helps women with unexplained infertility to conceive.
myLotus is the only consumer product which allows both quantitative and qualitative measurements in urine of a woman's personal hCG and LH hormone levels in an easy to use home test to facilitate higher conception rates and early diagnosis of any fertility problems. Competitor products currently only allow qualitative measurement and are based on the 'average woman'.
Concepta has a defined route to market for its new 'My Lotus' product with Regulatory approvals for launch in China in place for 2016 and CE-Marking for UK and Europe to follow in 2017 where the revenue potential of the Chinese and EU infertility market is worth c.£600m per annum for the company.
*Unexplained infertility refers to women that have been unable to conceive after 6 months of trying. This highly motivated target group of consumers won't typically be offered medical intervention until 12 months of unsuccessfully trying, with IVF not offered until two years. Research indicates couples start to take positive action ahead of this time and there is little medical support to help them do so.