Microsaic still turning a loss despite leap in revenues

Scientific research firm Microsaic Systems saw its shares fall on Monday after reporting a first-half loss as a jump in revenue was offset by increasing sales costs.

For the six-month period ending 30 June, the company’s loss before tax of £1.5m was 2% higher than its loss for the same period last year, as operating expenses jumped 3% to £1.6m and revenue increased by only 96% to reach £0.25m.

The period saw orders for the company’s mass spectrometry instruments increase sharply, while it also landed four distribution agreements covering Malaysia, Taiwan, the UK and central Europe for the distribution of the Microsaic-branded MiD platform.

Glenn Tracey, chief executive of Microsaic, said: "I am very pleased with the progress made in the first half of the year, including revenues well ahead of the same period last year and with instrument orders in H1 equal to the total number of orders for the full year 2017. We are encouraged by this growth which is supported by the growing base of OEM partnerships and distribution agreements."

At 30 June, the AIM traded company had cash and cash equivalents of £7m, up 71% from the previous year.

Tracey also said that Microsaic has made "good progress" with its bioprocessing partner on the integration phase of a marketing strategy to highlight mass spectrometry's potential to significantly reduce analysis lead times and increase production yield.

In order to increase its manufacturing capabilities, the firm is currently transferring its remaining assembly and testing to its manufacturing partner in the UK.

"Given the progress made in H1 against the company's growth strategy and the collaboration with one of the foremost players in the global market for life science instrumentation, the board remains confident in the prospects for the business and continues to trade in-line with expectations," said a statement from Microsaic.

Microsaic’s shares were down 6.45% at 1.45p at 1050 BST.