Trading Statement

21 November 2016

Instem plc("Instem", the "Company" or the "Group")

Trading Statement

The Group's interim results announcement in September referred to a slow-down in the early phase clinical market that is served by Instem Clinical, which had impacted Instem Clinical's trading performance. At the time of the interim results, the outperformance across the rest of the Group's operations was expected to be sufficient to compensate for the shortfall from Instem Clinical, such that overall the full year results would be in line with expectations.

Following the interim announcement, the performance of Instem Clinical has further deteriorated. Instem management is focused on resolving these issues as soon as possible and although the clinical business is expected to deliver market leadership, revenue growth and a return to profit in 2017 and beyond, it is now clear that in 2016 Instem Clinical will fall materially short of its financial targets.

Whilst the performance of Instem Clinical is disappointing, the increased momentum in other areas of the Group has continued. In particular, the US Food & Drug Administration mandated Standard for the Exchange of Non-clinical Data (SEND) has, as expected, seen increased activity, with Instem winning the majority of new business that has arisen.

Despite the strength of this performance, the overall outturn for the year remains dependent on the signing of certain contracts and decisions on a small number of these contracts, totalling c. £1.2 million, may be deferred into 2017.

As a consequence of the factors noted above, the full year results for the 2016 financial year are now expected to be behind market expectations. There is a range of possible outcomes for the year, dependent on the timing of new contract wins, as referred to above. 

The outlook for 2017 remains encouraging, underpinned by supportive market conditions, significant investment in the business and full year contributions from the recently acquired Notocord and Samarind, which are performing in line with expectations and whose full integration remains on track. 

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of EU Regulation 596/2014.

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About Instem plc

Instem is a leading supplier of IT applications and services to the early development healthcare market delivering compelling solutions for data collection, analysis and regulatory submissions management. Instem solutions are in use by customers worldwide, meeting the rapidly expanding needs of life science and healthcare organisations for data-driven decision making leading to safer, more effective products.

Instem's portfolio of software solutions increases client productivity by automating study-related processes while offering the unique ability to generate new knowledge through the extraction and harmonisation of actionable scientific information.

Instem supports over 500 clients through offices in the United States, United Kingdom, France, Japan, China and India.

To learn more about Instem solutions and its mission, please visit www.instem.com