TIDMPRM
RNS Number : 9512L
Proteome Sciences PLC
25 July 2017
25 July 2017
Proteome Sciences plc
("Proteome Sciences" or the "Company")
Interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2017
Proteome Sciences is pleased to announce its unaudited interim
results for the six months ended 30 June 2017.
Financial highlights:
-- Total revenues increased 21% to GBP1.36m (2016: GBP1.12m)
-- TMT(R) reagent sales and royalties increased 40% to GBP0.96m (2016: GBP0.69m)
-- Gross profit increased 30% to GBP0.78m (2016: GBP0.60m)
-- Administrative expenses were GBP2.45m (2016: GBP2.27m),
including GBP0.14m of exceptional items to fund laboratory
consolidation, relocation and recruitment activities
-- Loss after tax GBP1.45m (2016: GBP1.50m)
Commenting on these results, Jeremy Haigh, Chief Executive
Officer of Proteome Sciences, said:
"We are pleased to report that performance during the first six
months of 2017 has been broadly in line with expectations, and
revenues significantly ahead of the equivalent period in 2016
driven by strong growth in TMT(R) sales. This was achieved despite
predictable disruption resulting from the consolidation of our
laboratory capabilities in Frankfurt and the relocation of our head
office to London; these activities increased our administrative
expenses for the period compared with 2016 but are expected to
generate cost savings from the second half of 2017 onwards.
The presentation of promising data from a prospective trial
using the Randox Rapid Stroke Array was sufficient to trigger an
important contractual milestone late in the first half and, more
critically, also suggest the utility of a future diagnostic
including stroke biomarkers covered by our intellectual
property.
Commercialisation of our biomarker services remains fundamental
to the growth of the company over the next 12 months and has been
significantly improved by the arrival in April of Richard Dennis as
our Chief Commercial Officer. He brings a deep understanding of our
sector and an entirely fresh approach to sales. As we continue to
expand the range of our enabling technologies we are convinced that
our long-term commitment to proteomics, combined with a renewed
focus on the speed, cost and quality of our service delivery, will
enable us to remain highly competitive in an increasingly dynamic
market.
We have achieved good revenue growth over the first six months
and, as in previous years, expect a stronger second half with
further progress."
For further information:
Proteome Sciences plc
Jeremy Haigh, Chief Executive Officer
Ian Pike, Chief Scientific Officer Tel: +44 (0)20 7043 2116
Geoff Ellis, Finance Director
finnCap Limited (Nominated Adviser & Broker)
Geoff Nash/James Thompson Tel: +44 (0)20 7220 0500
Tony Quirke (Broking)
IFC Advisory (Financial PR and IR)
Tim Metcalfe/Graham Herring/Miles Tel: +44 (0)20 3053 8671
Nolan
About Proteome Sciences plc. (www.proteomics.com)
Proteome Sciences is a leader in applied proteomics offering
high sensitivity, proprietary technologies and workflows for
mapping cell signalling pathways (SysQuant(R) ) and for the
discovery, validation and assay development of protein biomarkers
(TMTcalibrator(TM) ). The company has its headquarters in London,
UK, with laboratory facilities in Frankfurt, Germany from where the
PS Biomarker Services(TM) division provides outsourced proteomics
services and proprietary biomarker assays to biopharmaceutical and
diagnostics companies and to academia.
Proteome Sciences has patented a number of novel protein
biomarkers for diagnostic and treatment applications in important
areas of human therapeutics such as cancer, stroke and Alzheimer's
disease, and these are available for license.
This announcement contains inside information for the purpose of
Article 7 of EU Regulation 596/2014.
Chief Executive Officer's Report
Following the scheduled closure of our laboratory at the
Institute of Psychiatry in London on 30 April, with a reduction of
four staff members, all equipment and capabilities have been
successfully consolidated at our existing facility in Frankfurt
without significantly compromising the delivery of any contracts or
projects. In addition, our head office was finally relocated from
Cobham to the developing 'knowledge quarter' of London in June with
a consequent change in our registered address. These combined
actions are fundamental to the strategy of Proteome Sciences,
enabling much needed internal efficiency and increasing our
external visibility within the bioscience ecosystem. Cost
containment continues to be a core principle: the increase in
spending required to support the organisational changes over the
last six months was anticipated, an obvious corollary of
fund-raising in 2016, but does not change our basic premise that we
can run the organisation more economically, a philosophy which has
been well supported by our principal investors and suppliers.
Services
The appointment of our first Chief Commercial Officer, Richard
Dennis, on 1 April heralded a fresh approach to the
commercialisation of our technology and services. He brings over 30
years' experience of strategic sales and marketing, combined with
significant technical knowledge gained in competitor companies. In
his first three months' he has already changed the nature and
frequency of our customer engagement across the US and Europe with
a focus on face to face selling. In that time, 25 customer visits
in four countries have included 14 new clients and resulted in at
least 10 business opportunities, further demonstrating the
potential market for our services and generating momentum which
will be carried into the second half of the year.
During this commercial leadership transition, which has also
seen the departure of Glenn Barney (VP Sales & Marketing), our
services business has been solid, although the conversion of
initial client interest into formal contract work must still be
strengthened for our major service platforms. Understanding
customer needs is obviously a fundamental driver of success: a
review of our pricing structure and an investment in our project
management capability have both been responses to important
feedback. In addition, significant progress has been made towards
Good Clinical Laboratory Practice accreditation across the company,
with installation of a critical Laboratory Information Management
System scheduled for completion in the third quarter. This will
allow us to compete more effectively for clinical stage contracts
where data required for regulatory submission must be generated in
a properly compliant environment, and where budgets are routinely
larger.
Licences
The first results from a prospective trial of 192 subjects using
the Randox Rapid Stroke Array were presented at the EuroMedLab
meeting in Athens on 14 June 2017. This array, which includes
biomarkers developed by us in association with the Biomedical
Proteomics Research Group at the University of Geneva, showed
excellent performance in identifying stroke from mimic conditions
and healthy controls, and in differentiating between ischaemic and
haemorrhagic strokes. Randox has agreed that a milestone (worth
GBP100,000) for the delivery of a research grade stroke array has
now been achieved according to contractual terms established in
April 2012. These clinical results are very encouraging and confirm
the potential of such biomarkers to provide clinicians with a
clearer diagnosis and therefore to improve patient management. With
over 150,000 cases of stroke per year in the UK alone, and an
estimated societal impact of GBP9 billion, the market opportunity
for a diagnostic which aids clinical intervention is
compelling.
The application for a CE (Conformité Européene) marked array,
upon which depend a further milestone payment and double-digit
royalties for in-market sales, awaits registration data from the
successful outcome of a clinical validation study. This trial will
take significantly longer for Randox to complete than initially
anticipated and, consequently, we do not now expect this
application to be made before the end of 2018.
Orders for our TMT(R) reagents were again strong during the
first half, with revenues increasing 40% compared with 2016, and
growth is projected for the foreseeable future. Restocking our
10-plex supplies remains the priority and is on schedule, but
reagent synthesis is running near capacity in Frankfurt leaving
limited resources for the development of new ('higher plexing')
reagents which are clearly important for the future isobaric
tagging market. We are collaborating closely on a strategy for such
improvements with our exclusive licensee, Thermo Scientific,
although progress has recently been hampered by the unreliable
delivery of key chemical precursors from our suppliers. As a
result, the commercial availability of any novel tags is not now
expected before the second half of 2018.
Research
Due diligence on our CK1D (casein kinase 1 delta) inhibitor
molecules has finally been completed by a European-based
biopharmaceutical company that was evaluating them for potential in
the treatment of sleep disorders (rather than the indication for
which they were originally developed). Unfortunately, when compared
with a reference standard, the company found insufficient activity
in an animal circadian rhythm model to warrant their continued
interest. We had not forecast any revenues from this programme and
will continue to review our options.
Management
I am sorry to announce that Geoff Ellis has tendered his
resignation after nearly three years as our Finance Director and
Company Secretary. He will leave the organisation at a date to be
agreed later in the summer. Stefan Fuhrmann, currently Head of
Finance & Administration at our Frankfurt facility, will assume
the role of Interim Finance Director from 1 August 2017 and is well
qualified to discharge this responsibility having held the position
of Financial Controller in previous organisations. The Board has
appointed Victoria Birse as Company Secretary also with effect from
1 August 2017.
Outlook
The first half of 2017 has seen the conclusion of a
much-anticipated program of consolidation and relocation,
substantially changing the footprint of the company after many
years and providing a simpler structure upon which the organisation
can grow. While these activities were inevitably disruptive, they
were completed without incident and on schedule, and will quickly
enable greater efficiency and connectivity for all our
functions.
With the organisation reset, we are well placed to pursue the
business strategy more aggressively, and our clear focus remains
customer engagement and the growth of service-based revenues. The
introduction of a new sales approach is fundamental to this: in
particular, our intention to engage a sales agent across the US
will give us primary access to a much larger customer base in what
is still, undeniably, our largest potential market. Furthermore,
the increasing importance of our exclusive collaboration with
Thermo Scientific cannot be underestimated and we will ensure that
this remains a priority as TMT(R) revenues continue to grow.
We have achieved good revenue growth over the first six months
and, as in previous years, expect a stronger second half with
further progress.
Jeremy Haigh
Chief Executive Officer
24 July 2017
Finance Director's Report
Revenues in the first half are 21% ahead of the equivalent
period in 2016, increasing to GBP1.36m from GBP1.12m. This
significant increase is driven principally by strong sales of our
TMT(R) reagents which have shown consistent growth in orders and
associated royalties quarter on quarter.
After adjusting for non-recurring items associated with
laboratory consolidation and office relocation to central London,
our administrative expenses of GBP2.31m are broadly in line with
the equivalent spend in 2016. The benefit of cost reduction
associated with these organisational changes is expected to flow
through from the second half of 2017.
The loss before taxation of GBP1.80m is also broadly similar to
last year. As at 30 June 2017, the Group had cash resources of
GBP0.87m. We expect a positive cash inflow in the first part of the
third quarter as payments are collected from customers for
significant sales billed in June.
Geoff Ellis
Finance Director
24 July 2017
Consolidated income statement
For the six months ended 30 June 2017
Six months Six months
ended ended
30 June 30 June
2017 2016
(unaudited) (unaudited)
Note GBP'000 GBP'000
Continuing operations
Revenue
Licences, sales & services 1,352 1,082
Grant services 5 40
------------- -------------
Revenue- Total 1,357 1,122
Cost of sales (580) (527)
------------- -------------
Gross profit 777 595
Restructuring expenses (exceptional (137) -
items)
Administrative expenses (other) (2,311) (2,265)
------------- -------------
Administrative expenses- Total (2,448) (2,265)
------------- -------------
Operating loss (1,671) (1,670)
Finance Income 1 1
Finance costs (131) (127)
------------- -------------
Loss before taxation (1,801) (1,796)
Tax 350 300
------------- -------------
Loss for the period (1,451) (1,496)
------------- -------------
Loss per share
Basic and diluted 2 (0.49p) (0.66p)
------------- -------------
Consolidated statement of comprehensive income
For the six months ended 30 June 2017
Six months Six months
ended ended
30 June 30 June
2017 2016
(unaudited) (unaudited)
GBP'000 GBP'000
Loss for the period (1,451) (1,496)
------------- ---------------------
Other comprehensive income for the period
Exchange differences on translation of foreign
operations 46 48
------------- ---------------------
Total comprehensive expense for the period (1,405) (1,448)
============= =====================
Consolidated balance sheet
As at 30 June 2017
30 June 31 December
2017 2016
(unaudited) (audited)
GBP'000 GBP'000
Non-current assets
Goodwill 4,218 4,218
Property, plant and equipment 431 592
4,649 4,810
------------- ------------
Current assets
Inventories 556 600
Trade and other receivables 2,280 1,406
Cash and cash equivalents 869 2,884
------------- ------------
3,705 4,890
------------- ------------
Total assets 8,354 9,700
------------- ------------
Current liabilities
Trade and other payables (578) (662)
Borrowings (8,831) (8,700)
(9,409) (9,362)
------------- ------------
Net current liabilities (5,704) (4,472)
------------- ------------
Non-current liabilities
Hire purchase payables (101) (166)
Provisions (385) (361)
------------- ------------
(486) (527)
------------- ------------
Total liabilities (9,895) (9,889)
------------- ------------
Net liabilities (1,541) (189)
============= ============
Equity
Share capital 2,946 2,943
Share premium account 51,451 51,451
Share-based payment reserve 3,486 3,436
Other reserve 10,755 10,755
Translation reserve (58) (104)
Retained loss (70,121) (68,670)
------------- ------------
Total equity (deficit) (1,541) (189)
============= ============
Consolidated cash flow statement
For the six months to 30 June 2017
Six months Six months
ended ended
30 June 30 June
2017 2016
(unaudited) (unaudited)
GBP'000 GBP'000
Loss before tax (1,801) (1,796)]
Adjustments for:
Net finance costs 130 126
Depreciation of property, plant and
equipment 176 276
Share-based payment expense 50 36
-------------------------------------------- ------------- -------------
Operating cash flows before movements
in working capital (1,445) (1,358)
Decrease/(increase) in inventories 44 (73)
Increase in receivables (524) (95)
(Decrease)/increase in payables (84) 208
Increase in provisions 24 66
-------------------------------------------- ------------- -------------
Cash used in operations (1,985) (1,252)
Tax paid - (1)
-------------------------------------------- ------------- -------------
Net cash outflow from operating activities (1,985) (1,253)
-------------------------------------------- ------------- -------------
Cash flows from investing activities
Purchases of property, plant and equipment (18) (13)
Interest received 1 1
-------------------------------------------- ------------- -------------
Net cash outflow from investing activities (17) (12)
-------------------------------------------- ------------- -------------
Financing activities
Proceeds on issue of shares 3 -
Repayment of hire purchase payables (65) (137)
-------------------------------------------- ------------- -------------
Net cash outflow from financing activities (62) (137)
-------------------------------------------- ------------- -------------
Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents (2,064) (1,402)
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning
of period 2,884 1,808
Effect of foreign exchange rate changes 49 204
-------------------------------------------- ------------- -------------
Cash and cash equivalents at end of
period 869 610
-------------------------------------------- ------------- -------------
Notes
For the six months to 30 June 2017
1. These interim consolidated financial statements have been
prepared using accounting policies based on International Financial
Reporting Standards (IFRS and IFRIC Interpretations) issued by the
International Accounting Standards Board ("IASB") as adopted for
use in the EU. They do not include all disclosures that would
otherwise be required in a complete set of financial statements and
should be read in conjunction with the 31 December 2016 Annual
Report. The financial information for the half years ended 30 June
2017 and 30 June 2016 does not constitute statutory accounts within
the meaning of Section 434 (3) of the Companies Act 2006 and both
periods are unaudited.
The annual financial statements of Proteome Sciences plc are
prepared in accordance with IFRS as adopted by the European Union.
The comparative financial information for the year ended 31
December 2016 included within this report does not constitute the
full statutory Annual Report for that period. The statutory Annual
Report and Financial Statements for 2016 have been filed with the
Registrar of Companies. The Independent Auditors' Report on the
Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31
December 2016 was unqualified, did not include a reference to
uncertainty surrounding going concern, and did not contain a
statement under 498(2) - (3) of the Companies Act 2006. After
making enquiries, the directors have concluded that the Group has
adequate resources to continue operational existence for the
foreseeable future. Accordingly, they continue to adopt the going
concern basis in preparing the half-yearly consolidated financial
statements.
The same accounting policies, presentation and methods of
computation are followed in these interim consolidated financial
statements as were applied in the Group's 31 December 2016 annual
audited financial statements. In addition, the IASB has issued a
number of IFRS and IFRIC amendments or interpretations since the
last Annual Report was published. The directors have not yet
considered whether any of these will have a material impact on the
Group. The Board of Directors approved this interim report on 24
July 2017.
2. Loss per share from continuing operations
Six months Six months
ended ended
30 June 30 June
2017 2016
(unaudited) (unaudited)
Loss per share
Loss for the purpose of basic loss
per share
being net loss attributable to equity
holders
of the parent (GBP'000) (1,451) (1,496)
-------------- --------------
Number of shares
Weighted average number of ordinary
shares
for the purpose of basic loss per
share 294,486,738 227,966,732
-------------- --------------
Weighted average number of ordinary
shares
for the purpose of diluted loss
per share 294,486,738 227,966,732
============== ==============
3. Cautionary statement
This document contains certain forward-looking statements
relating to Proteome Sciences plc ('the Group'). The Group
considers any statements that are not historical facts as
"forward-looking statements". They relate to events and trends that
are subject to risk and uncertainty that may cause actual results
and the financial performance of the Group to differ materially
from those contained in any forward-looking statement. These
statements are made by the directors in good faith based on
information available to them and such statements should be treated
with caution due to the inherent uncertainties, including both
economic and business risk factors, underlying any such
forward-looking information.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
IR KZLFLDDFZBBB
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 25, 2017 02:01 ET (06:01 GMT)
Proteome Sciences (LSE:PRM)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2024 to May 2024
Proteome Sciences (LSE:PRM)
Historical Stock Chart
From May 2023 to May 2024