Genus PLC on Thursday warned that Chinese porcine markets continued to be ‘challenging’, as it anticipates reporting lower revenue and adjusted pretax profit for its recent half-year.
Shares in the Basingstoke, England based animal genetics biotechnology company focused on cattle and pig farms plunged 30% to 1,478.00 pence each on Thursday morning in London.
Genus expects to report adjusted pretax profit for the financial first-half ended December 31 of £29 million on revenue of £334 million.
Both outcomes will be in line with expectations, but they would represent a 31% slump in adjusted pretax profit from £42.2 million a year before and a 4.6% decline on the top line from £350.2 million.
‘[Pig Improvement Co] ex-China performed robustly, with North America, Latin America and Europe delivering adjusted operating profit growth in constant currency. China continues to be a challenging porcine market, however our enhanced commercial focus has resulted in winning new royalty customers in the period which will positively impact fiscal year 2025 and beyond,’ Genus added.
PIC sales comprise semen, embryos and breeding animals with ’superior’ genetics to those animals currently on farms.
Genus said: ‘With regards to our PRP programme, recent engagement with the US Food & Drug Administration has shifted to the post-approval compliance procedures. This has clarified the data submissions and monitoring that will be required on an ongoing basis post-PRP approval. Validation of our procedures to comply with these monitoring requirements is expected to take several months. We therefore now expect FDA approval in fiscal year 2025. Our dialogue shifting to the post-approval compliance procedures reinforces our view that approval will be forthcoming. There are no changes to our commercialisation timeline or financial projections.’
Genus’s PRP programme focuses on pigs who are resistant to porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome, or PRRS. Genus has developed a solution to protect pigs from the PRRS virus, which causes animal suffering and prematurely kills millions of pigs every year.
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