Life sciences firm Aptamer has seen Ebitda losses widen to £4.7m having warned that about falling customer confidence.
The York-based operator, which successfully raised £3.5m earlier this year after the need to plug a short term funding gap, said Ebitda losses grew from £1.7m in the year to the end of June as revenue reduced from £4m in 2022 to £1.8m. With a new management team installed in the summer – including the return of co-founder Dr Arron Tolley – the firm is undergoing a “strategy reset” in which it aims to reach Ebitda and cash break even within two years.
Investors on the London Stock Exchange were told that a pipeline of new business opportunities had taken longer to convert into revenues against global economic headwinds and tighter budgets among life sciences sector customers. The company has responded by significant tightening up costs, with spending on premises, development and staffing almost halved from £6.4m in the year to the end of June to £3.5m in its current financial year.
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The biotech firm has also substantially lowered its revenue expectations, targeting £3m in the current financial year and rising to £6m in the year to the end of June, 2026. Aptamer said its Optimer binder technology is in demand, particularly to address the limitations of antibodies across research, bioprocessing, diagnostic and therapeutic sectors. And it pointed to deals in the past year including with a US-based vaccine development company a “top five” pharma company.
Steve Hull, executive chairman of Aptamer Group, said: “I am pleased to return as the executive chairman of Aptamer Group. The company has a leading technology platform that is in high demand across the life sciences industry, in supporting researchers and developers overcome many of the limitations of antibodies and allow them to advance novel technology solutions to drive healthcare forward. While the past year has been difficult for Aptamer, with contributory challenging macroeconomic conditions, the company, invigorated by the new board, is now showing good momentum and success in expanding current partnerships and winning new contracts.
“The new board has reset the group’s cost-base and revenue expectations. In addition, it has completed an extensive process improvement programme to support improved selections, which will reduce sample requirements and improve margins. We expect to continue to build on the company’s expertise to offer excellent services using the Optimer platform, with a key focus of achieving a cash breakeven position over the next two years.”
Original artice – https://business-live.co.uk/all-about/yorkshire-humber
