Bioventix hikes interim dividend after revenue falls

Monoclonal antibody developer and supplier Bioventix reported an 8% fall in revenue in its first half on Monday, to £4.7m.

The AIM-traded firm said its profit before tax for the six months ended 31 December totalled £3.6m, down slightly from the £3.7m it reported a year earlier.

Closing cash balances totalled £5.1m, falling from £5.8m a year earlier, while the board hiked the first interim dividend by 20% to 52p per share, up from the 43p distribution it made for the first half of 2020.

“Throughout the challenges of the recent past, Bioventix has demonstrated that it is a resilient business with established products and reliable revenue streams,” said chief executive officer Peter Harrison.

“We will therefore continue to follow our established dividend policy and for the period under review, the board is pleased to announce a first interim dividend of 52p per share which represents a 20% increase on the interim dividend paid last year.”

Harrison said there had been “challenges” over the last two years, but the company still had confidence in the strength of its core business and its outlook for the full year.

“We remain optimistic about our troponin revenues and the success of these high sensitivity troponin products around the world and we look forward to reporting further progress in the second half of the year.”

At 1122 BST, shares in Bioventix were down 5.99% at 3,074p.