Creo Medical loss widens as commercial launches near

Creo Medical's shares edged lower on Friday as the company's losses increased on the back of increasing administrative expenses, though it believes it has built a "solid platform for future growth".

The Welsh medical equipment manufacturer reported a loss before tax of £17.6m for the 18 months ended 31 December, more than double the £8.9m loss recorded for the 12 months to 30 June 2017, as administrative expenses almost doubled to £17.9m.

The business has not yet made any revenue but said the last 18 months has been "a period of considerable progress" in the development and path towards a commercial launch of some of its products.

The number of physicians trained to use the AIM traded company's products increased to more than 60, with a strong pipeline of further trainees, while it also received FDA clearance for its Speedboat device and the CROMA platform, with regulatory approval for additional products also on track.

Meanwhile, cash and cash equivalents stood at £44.6m at 31 December, up from £13.7m at 30 June 2017, after Creo raised additional £48.5m through a "significantly" oversubscribed share placing.

Craig Gulliford, chief executive of Creo Medical, said: "We continue to deliver against our strategic objectives; developing a widening suite of innovative medical devices, expanding the list of physicians participating in the Creo Clinical Education Programme as part of our training led commercialisation plan, and evolving our distribution network and manufacturing capacity in anticipation of commercial launch. We have established a solid platform for future growth and we look forward with confidence to another year exciting year in 2019."

Creo Medical's shares were down 1.52% at 195.00p at 0830 BST.