Biome Technologies shares sink as Q1 sales drop 44%

Shares in AIM-listed Biome Technologies plummeted by almost a third on Monday after the bioplastics and radio frequency technology business reported a poor start to the year with first-quarter sales dropping by 44%.

Despite the company saying it was confident that it would still achieve expectations for the full year, shares were down 30% at 70p by 0831 BST.

Biome said that group revenues were just £1.1m in the first three months, compared with £1.9m the year before and lower than management's expectations.

Bioplastics revenues were down 45% at £0.9m due to slower transit times of material from Europe to North America, due to the Red Sea shipping crisis, along with production and regulatory difficulties at two end customers that reduced offtake of material. While shipping issues have eased, transit times "remain extended and variable", it said.

Meanwhile, revenues in the RF Technologies division were down 25% £0.2m.

"Whilst trading in the first quarter was below the previous quarter, contract wins and ongoing business are improving and the board is confident that the group will achieve its expectations for the 2024 full year," the company said.

The news came as Biome reported its results for 2023, with revenues rising 12.7% to £7m and the operating loss widening to £1.2m from £0.8m.