voda schreef op 14 mei 2020 08:13:
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Bedankt plus dikke AB!
2020 trading and outlook
The Primerdesign and Lab21 businesses started the year strongly, with an order book significantly higher than the beginning of 2019 and with working capital to fully restore the Group’s supply chain through the first half of 2020.
In early January 2020, Novacyt commenced the development of a new test in response to the emerging novel coronavirus (COVID-19) threat emerging from China. Primerdesign launched its test in late January 2020 to become one of the world’s first molecular tests for the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The test was the first to achieve CE-IVD status and was subsequently approved for emergency use by the US Food and Drug Administration, the World Health Organisation and other regulatory bodies. The Company quickly established the need to develop significant manufacturing capacity and today has eight dedicated manufacturing sites capable of producing COVID-19 tests at an output rate of more than ten million tests per month, which Novacyt expects to achieve from June 2020 onwards. Through its investment in raw materials and manufacturing, the Company is now in a position to service significant and expected growth in demand for its COVID-19 test.
Sales, orders and commitments to purchase the test since the initial launch have significantly exceeded expectations and have been transformational for the Group; all indications are that the positive financial effects of this will continue. This is additional revenue to Novacyt’s other operations at Primerdesign and Lab21 Products. The Directors believe the significant demand for the Company’s COVID-19 test will continue through to the end of the year, and may extend well into 2021, as the global demand for COVID-19 testing continues to increase. Further revenues are also expected from the launch of the Company’s COVID-19 related products described later, which include the Exsig™ Direct extraction reagent and mobile COVID-19 testing.
In the four months to end of April 2020, the Group achieved an EBITDA margin in excess of 50% driven by the success of the COVID-19 test. Should the current level of activity continue for the full year, it will be financially transformational for the business and orders suggest a continuing increase in the level of sales activity. Significant levels of cash are also expected to be generated from this level of profitability and as of the end of April 2020, the Group had a net cash balance of €9.2m (cash as at 31 December 2019 of €1.8m). Given the low capital intensity of Novacyt’s manufacturing process, a significant proportion of the Group’s EBITDA should be converted to cash.
In addition, the Directors believe the successful development, launch and sale of the COVID-19 test will have a positive, long-term effect on the business. As well as reinforcing the expertise within the business, the Company now has a new and significantly increased base of global customers. The Company is already experiencing increased demand for its B2B molecular design and development capabilities and the Board believes these opportunities will extend to Novacyt’s extensive product portfolio.