SBI.L Regulatory News (SBI)

SourceBio International plc

("SourceBio", the "Company" or the "Group")

Half Year Trading Update

Solid half year results, with significant growth anticipated in second half

Strong balance sheet position, cash more than doubled since start of year, no debt

SourceBio International plc (AIM: SBI), the international provider of integrated state of the art laboratory services and products, provides a trading update for the half year ended 30 June 2021 confirming considerable growth in both revenues and EBITDA year-on-year.

Key H1 highlights

· Revenues up almost four-fold to c. £37.3 million (H1 2020: £10.6 million)

· Adjusted EBITDA1 of approximately £11.2 million, an almost seven-fold increase (H1 2020: £1.7 million)

· Cash at 30 June 2021 more than doubled to £17.2 million (31 December 2020: £8.4 million, 30 June 2020: £1.5 million)

· Debt free compared to borrowings on 30 June 2020 of £101.3 million

· Recovery in Q2 of Cellular Pathology business following the impact of COVID-19 as elective surgeries return

· Strong bias to H2 expected given anticipated H2 weighting and growth in travel related COVID-19 testing revenues

As reported in June 2021, the Group's long standing business units of Healthcare Diagnostics, Genomics and Stability Storage are all now back to normal levels of trading following the impact of COVID-19 from March 2020 and all business divisions are being challenged to accelerate their growth. The Group's Cellular Pathology testing services saw very solid recovery in the second quarter of 2021, driven by the demands created as inroads are being made to tackle the significant backlog of elective surgeries.

As previously reported, the Company anticipates a strong second half bias to revenues, earnings and cash generation, largely driven by the phasing of COVID-19 testing revenues generated through its newest business unit, Infectious Disease Testing. The Group had a solid first half and has completed more than 600,000 PCR-based tests from its laboratory in Nottingham during the period, in addition to tests delivered through mobile units, generating divisional revenues in the half year of approximately £28.4 million compared to £2.2 million in the first half of 2020. The Group is planning for a significant uplift in demand in the third quarter driven by the anticipated increase in COVID-19 testing as travel restrictions continue to be lifted. The Group has already seen a marked uptick during July with daily testing volumes rising from under 4,000 tests per day in June to approximately 9,000 tests daily at present, well within the Group's existing capacity. Testing demand is expected to rise further and, accordingly, the Group has made preparations to expand its capacity to more than 20,000 tests per day. Should demand exceed these levels, the Group has further arrangements to leverage surplus capacity within a third party owned laboratory.

Trading during the current quarter will be a key indicator to the full year outturn. Whilst the current environment remains fluid with ever changing travel restrictions, the Board believes the Group is currently trading in line with expectations.

Full details of the Group's financial performance for the first half of 2021 together with an update on the summer trading and a fuller outlook for 2021 will be provided in the Company's unaudited interim results, which are expected to be announced on Tuesday 28 September 2021.

1 Adjusted EBITDA is earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, excluding exceptional items and share based payments

Jay LeCoque, Executive Chairman, commented: "We are pleased with progress in the first half year and are looking forward to capitalising on the further opportunities we expect in the second half. More specifically, travel related COVID-19 testing services and the increased pace of elective surgeries leading to greater Cellular Pathology services demand. We are already seeing and expect a very busy second half year."

Contacts: 

About SourceBio International plc www.sourcebiointernational.com 

SourceBio is a leading international provider of integrated state-of-the-art laboratory services and products with clients in the healthcare, clinical, life science research and biopharma industries, with a focus on improving patient diagnosis, management and care. Group revenues are derived from four core businesses areas:

• Infectious Disease Testing - a range of COVID-19 testing services for commercial enterprises, private healthcare groups, NHS and the DHSC. Utilising multiple technologies, SourceBio offers screening, gold standard RT-PCR and whole genome sequencing COVID-19 testing solutions and operates under ISO 15189 accreditation required by the DHSC. SourceBio also provides employee testing solutions to industry, direct to consumer home test kits (including 'Fit to Fly', 'Test to Release' and '2 & 8 Day International Travel' approved tests) whilst also being the lead operator on mobile testing unit services to support outbreak testing for the DHSC, event and venue testing.

• Healthcare Diagnostics - histopathology cancer screening and clinical diagnostic services for the NHS and private healthcare across the UK and Ireland.

• Genomics - DNA sequencing services for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, academia, contract research organisations (CROs) and other research groups in the UK, Europe and North America.

• Stability Storage - shelf-life testing services and equipment for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, contract manufacturers and analytical testing companies from around the world but primarily in the UK, Ireland and the USA.

More details on Group operations can be found here: www.sourcebioscience.com.

SourceBio International plc (SBI) is listed on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange.