YGEN.L Regulatory News (YGEN)

Yourgene Health plc

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

Full year unaudited trading update

Manchester, UK - 27 April 2023: Yourgene (AIM: YGEN), a leading international molecular diagnostic group, provides the following unaudited trading update for the year ended 31 March 2023 ("FY23").

FY23 revenues above market expectations

Yourgene expects to report revenues for FY23 of £19.0m, above market expectations and at the mid-point of the guidance range stated in the interim results released on 21 December 2022. Yourgene remains focussed on accelerating the growth within its core offerings of NIPT, Ranger® Technology, and PCR tests, for which revenue grew by 19% year-on-year. The adjusted EBITDA1 loss for FY23 is also expected to be in line with market expectations.

International revenues are up 70% year-on-year with strong performance in the Americas and Asia Pacific ("APAC"). This is driven by increased take up of Ranger® Technology as an enabler for third party NIPT workflows as well as in proprietary Yourgene workflows in the Americas and the establishment of new NIPT laboratory customers in the region, and steady growth from Yourgene's reproductive health and DPYD chemotoxicity tests. Strong growth was also seen in the APAC region, driven by sales of products and NIPT services. European sales remain suppressed due to the loss of a single NIPT account in FY22. However, new NIPT wins in Europe commencing in late FY23, reversed this trend and revenue is expected to show ongoing signs of recovery in FY24. UK revenues for core products and services is up 20% year-on-year.

The key growth drivers in the portfolio continue to be Ranger® Technology, NIPT and DPYD:

· Ranger® Technology product revenues have grown by over 100% to £2.2m, with growth driven equally by additional instrument placements and consumable sales.

· NIPT service and product revenues rose by over 20% to £8.5m, with growth coming from increased sales in APAC and from the Americas.

· FY23 saw expanded global coverage for the Company's DPYD chemotoxicity test with revenues up 8%.

Activity continues across the Group to expand our customer reach and applicability of our evolving set of products and services, including to progress cross-selling initiatives. Whilst there is naturally uncertainty around the timing and impact from conversion of these initiatives, our pipeline of opportunities continues to build and the Board remains cautiously optimistic about the overall growth prospects for Yourgene.

Capital raising and restructuring

In January 2023, the Company completed a capital raising generating net proceeds of approximately £6.8m. As well as delivering near-term working capital and funding for Yourgene's regulatory approval and product enhancement programmes, these funds have been used to cover the one-off costs of further restructuring of the Group's cost base. Since the fundraise the Company has already delivered the first phase of its reshaping plans delivering an annualised 10% operating cost reduction. A further annualised 15% saving has been identified for the planned second phase.

As at 31 March 2023, the Company had cash of £2.8m. As announced on 17 March 2023, Peter Charles was appointed as Interim Chief Financial Officer. He is focussed on enhancing the financial systems, planning and analysis within the business until a successor Chief Financial Officer is found.

Strategic initiatives

Negotiations relating to the potential divestment of the Taiwanese laboratory are progressing as expected; further updates will be provided in due course, as appropriate.  Following the equity fundraise, the Board's immediate focus has been on the internal reshaping of Yourgene's business. Whilst the relationship with the potential strategic partner at the time of the fundraising remains strong, the Board is mindful of pursuing any further dilutive initiatives and it is therefore unlikely that such an investment will take place in the near-term.

Full year results

Audited final results for the year ended 31 March 2023 will be announced later than previous years, to accommodate a longer audit cycle due to regulatory and resourcing challenges in the audit market. A Notice of Results announcement will be issued nearer to the time of results, and Yourgene will provide further updates on its progress as appropriate.

Lyn Rees, Chief Executive Officer of Yourgene, commented: 

"It was difficult to reset the business plan earlier this year, but the team and the Company have worked really hard to right size the opportunity, to focus the Company and restructure the organisation in order to build a sustainable and long-term business. We are pleased with the more robust performance from our core business which has delivered strong year-on-year growth. This performance, alongside our fundraising and actions to realign our cost base, places us in a stronger position to drive growth from our core offerings of NIPT, Ranger® Technology and PCR testing."

1Adjusted EBITDA is the operating profit/(loss) before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation, share-based payments and exceptional items.

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of the UK Market Abuse Regulation.

The Directors of the Company take responsibility for this announcement.

About Yourgene Health

Yourgene Health is an international integrated technologies and services business, enabling the delivery of genomic medicine. The Group works in partnership with global leaders in DNA technology to advance diagnostic science.

Yourgene primarily develops, manufactures, and commercialises simple and accurate molecular diagnostic and screening solutions, for reproductive health and precision medicine. The Group's portfolio of in vitro diagnostic products includes non-invasive prenatal tests (NIPT) for Down's Syndrome and other genetic disorders, Cystic Fibrosis screening tests, invasive rapid aneuploidy tests and DPYD genotyping assays.

Building on our expertise in genomic technology, Yourgene's Ranger® Technology offers next generation size selection with a range of sample preparation platforms for dynamic target enrichment. Ranger® Technology can be utilised to improve workflows and performance in multiple applications including NIPT, oncology, infectious disease testing and gene synthesis.

Yourgene Genomic Services offers a clinical service from UK and Taiwan focusing on precision medicine and reproductive health, including NIPT.

Yourgene Health is headquartered in Manchester, UK with offices in Taipei, Singapore, the US and Canada, and is listed on the London Stock Exchange's AIM market under the ticker "YGEN".

For more information visit https://yourgenehealth.com/ and follow us on twitter @Yourgene_Health.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements made in this announcement are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are not historical facts but rather are based on the Company's current expectations, estimates, and projections about its industry; its beliefs; and assumptions. Words such as 'anticipates,' 'expects,' 'intends,' 'plans,' 'believes,' 'seeks,' 'estimates,' and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, some of which are beyond the Company's control, are difficult to predict, and could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or forecasted in the forward-looking statements. The Company cautions security holders and prospective security holders not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which reflect the view of the Company only as of the date of this announcement. The forward-looking statements made in this announcement relate only to events as of the date on which the statements are made. The Company will not undertake any obligation to release publicly any revisions or updates to these forward-looking statements to reflect events, circumstances, or unanticipated events occurring after the date of this announcement except as required by law or by any appropriate regulatory authority.