Niox posts growth amid business model transition

Asthma-focussed medical device developer Niox Group reported a robust 21% increase in first-half revenue on Tuesday, reaching £18.8m.

The AIM-traded company recorded 28% growth in its clinical business revenue for the six months ended 30 June, to £16.7m, of which an impressive 90% was generated from recurring test kit sales.

Adjusted EBITDA saw a significant rise to £6.2m from £3.2m a year earlier, attributed to increased sales, better profit margins due to a surge in test kit sales, and a modest decrease in overhead costs.

At period-end on 30 June, Niox recorded zero bank debt and a cash balance of £23.8m - up from £13.8m on 30 June last year and £19.4m at the end of December.

Operating cash flow experienced a substantial boost, reaching £5m, a leap from £1m in the first six months of 2022.

On the operational front, Niox said it was actively transitioning to a distributor-led business model.

With new partnerships in Europe, the US and China, the move was intended to fuel scalable revenue growth.

Niox added that it had kickstarted its Niox Pro development, marking its next-generation device's introduction for clinical use.

Since the end of the half-year, the company said Beyond Air made a second payment of $3.5m to Niox on 25 August, as its net cash surged to £27.3m as of 31 August.

Shareholders received a special dividend of 2.5p per share on 15 September, representing a cash return of £10.5m.

“The group has performed well in the first half of the year with good growth in revenue and profits,” said executive chairman Ian Johnson.

“The group is now in a strong financial position to deploy its cash resources to invest in creating further demand for its products and developing next-generation devices, including a home-use device.”

Johnson said trading in July and August was in line with management expectations.

“While the value of reported sales is subject to fluctuation as a result of exchange rate movements, the impact of this on EBITDA is not expected to be significant, and the board remains confident of achieving management expectations for the full year, which were significantly upgraded in July, and in prospects for 2024 and beyond.”

At 1314 BST, shares in Niox Group were down 3.78% at 67.74p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.