24 November 2023
RUA Life Sciences Plc
("RUA Life Sciences", the "Company" or the "Group")
Half-Year Trading Update
RUA Life Sciences (AIM: RUA), the holding company of a group of medical device businesses focused on the exploitation of the world's leading long-term implantable biostable polymer (Elast-Eon™), today provides an unaudited trading update for the six-month period ended 30 September 2023, being the first half of the 2024 financial year ("H1 2024").
Revenue
In the previous financial year, revenue within the Contract Manufacture business was weighted in the first half. The current year has seen this weighting reverse due to a temporary disruption in the timings of shipping orders to customers. As a result, total Group revenue (including royalties) for the period decreased to £794k, representing a year-on-year decline of 28% (H1 2023: £1,104k).
· Biomaterials royalties for the period from Elast-Eon increased to £199k, representing year on year growth of 6% (H1 2023: £187k)
· Contract Manufacture revenues for the period decreased to £595k, representing a year on year decline of 35% (H1 2023: £917k)
Notably, however, post period end, October was a strong month for Contract Manufacture and by the month end, revenues had recovered to be just 6% behind budget for the year to date, and Management anticipates full order fulfilment by the end of November with trading in line with budget and subsequently back to normal trading volumes. Consequently, the Group is confident that full-year revenues will align with management expectations for the current financial year.
Cash
Despite the order disruption, the Group continued to manage its resources tightly with cash at 30 September 2023 of £0.5m (31 March 2023: £1.5m). With a catch-up in order shipments together with the receipt of R&D Tax Credits of £381k, the cash position at 21 November 2023 stood at over £1.0m.
Loss for period
As a result of the heavy second-half weighting and the resulting shortfall in revenues, Group losses before tax for the period are expected to temporarily widen by 22% to £1.4m (H1 2023: £1.1m), reflecting the shortfall in revenues however, costs remained tightly controlled.
Bill Brown, Chairman of RUA Life Sciences, stated: "Taking into account the recent catch-up in shipments, our Biomaterials and Contract Manufacturing businesses continue to perform in line with expectations and demonstrate growth potential. As announced on 20 November with the Strategy Update our focus is to minimise the future investment required for the Group to commercialise its development projects and provide a pathway for the Group to reach profitability and cash generation in a significantly shorter timeframe."
The Group expects to announce its interim results in the second half of December 2023.
The information communicated in this announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014.
For further information contact:
| RUA Life Sciences Bill Brown, Chairman Caroline Stretton, Group Managing Director |
Tel: +44 (0)1294 317073 Tel: +44 (0)1294 317073
|
| Cavendish Capital Markets Limited (Nominated Adviser and Broker) Giles Balleny/Dan Hodkinson (Corporate Finance) Charlie Combe (Broking) Michael Johnson (Sales) | Tel: +44 (0)20 7220 0500
|
About RUA Life Sciences
The RUA Life Sciences group was created in April 2020 when RUA Life Sciences Plc (formerly known as AorTech International Plc) acquired RUA Medical Devices Limited to create a fully formed medical device business. RUA Life Sciences is the holding company of the Group's four trading businesses, each exploiting the Group's patented polymer technology.
Our vision is to improve the lives of millions of patients by enabling medical devices with Elast-EonTM, the world's leading long-term implantable polyurethane. Whether it is licensing Elast-EonTM, manufacturing a device or component, or developing next generation medical devices, a RUA Life Sciences business is pursuing our vision.
Elast-Eon™'s biostability is comparable to silicone while exhibiting excellent mechanical, blood contacting and flex-fatigue properties. These polymers can be processed using conventional thermoplastic extrusion and moulding techniques. With over 8 million implants and 15 years of successful clinical use, RUA's polymers are proven in long-term life enabling applications.
The Group's four business units are:
| RUA Contract Manufacture: | End-to-end contract developer and manufacturer of medical devices and implantable fabric specialist.
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| RUA Biomaterials: | Licensor of Elast-EonTM polymers to the medical device industry.
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| RUA Vascular: | Commercialisation of open surgical vascular grafts and patches
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| RUA Structural Heart: | Development of polymeric leaflet systems for heart valves. |
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