Shares dropped in early trading at Aptamer Group after it said a drop in customer demand is expected to affect half-year revenues.
The York-based biotech business saw shares fall more than 11% to 1.2p after issuing a trading update, saying it saw a lull in customer confidence in the lead up to a fundraise. However the life sciences firm, which was admitted to trading on AIM in December 2021 to maximise the potential of its Optimer binder technology, highlighted progress since the appointment of a new management team in the summer.
The update said the new team has been “working tirelessly” to meet targets set out in an announcement made in August, focusing on boosting efficiency, identifying growth opportunities and increasing shareholder value. It said it has made great strides in driving change, including raising an additional £300,000 which has been ringfenced for research and development activities.
The update said: “Whilst delivering positive progress in the business since August, we have also seen the consequences of a lull in customer confidence in the period leading up to completion of the £3.6m fundraise, which means that the half-year revenue figure to 31 December 2023 will be less than the comparative period in 2022.
“However, with revised strategy set out by the new management team gaining traction with a focus on building and converting the pipeline, we are completely focused on converting those opportunities and on achieving market expectations for the full year. Under the new management team, and with cash on the balance sheet, we have seen a significant improvement in customer confidence.”
Aptamer’s pipeline of opportunities that are at advanced stages stands at £3.3m across 28 projects, and since the completion of the refinancing it said it has added 128 new leads to a “growing pool of opportunities, which gives management confidence that significant orders will be signed before the 2023 calendar year end”.
Executive chairman Steve Hull added: “I am inspired by how much progress we have made in such a short time under new management. We appreciate the support of our staff, customers and shareholders who are invaluable to us turning the business around.
“We are encouraged by the response from customers since the Company refinanced and we have confidence that the team will be able to convert a number of existing pipeline opportunities, in addition to attracting a complement of new customers, to meet market expectations for the full year.”
Original artice – https://business-live.co.uk/all-about/yorkshire-humber
