Biome Technologies reports fall in revenue, profit

Biome Technologies reported a significant drop in first-half revenue and profit on Friday, with group revenue falling to £2.3m from £3.6m in the first half of 2023, while gross profit decreased to £0.8m from £1.1m.

The AIM-traded company said its bioplastics division, a primary driver of its growth, saw revenue decline 34%, generating £2m compared to £3.1m in the prior period.

It put the downturn down to challenges in the market, although the firm said it was focused on long-term opportunities in sustainable materials.

Meanwhile, the RF technologies division reported contract wins totaling £1.7m, with most of the revenue expected to be realised in the second half.

That performance aligned with Biome's projections, suggesting a potential recovery in the latter part of the year.

Biome also secured additional funding during the period.

In March, the company raised £0.4m through a convertible loan note fundraise, which was followed by another £1.1m in September, obtained after the conversion of the previously-issued loan notes.

Despite the challenging first half, Biome remained cautiously optimistic about its prospects for the rest of the year, with expected revenue contributions from recent contract wins and a bolstered financial position due to successful fundraising efforts.

“The challenges encountered by the bioplastics business in the first half are progressing towards resolution, albeit some hurdles remain to achieve the revenue run-rate we expect in the near term,” said chief executive officer Paul Mines.

“We have successfully completed the first major RF Technologies division project of the year and achieved customer acceptance.”

Mines said the firm remained on track to deliver three further projects by the end of the year.

“I was pleased by the response to our recent fundraising, particularly with the retail offer being oversubscribed, and I would like to thank our investors for their continuing support.”

At 1108 BST, shares in Biome Technologies were down 5.36% at 6.62p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.