Novacyt stumbles as Novaprep business tanks

Novacyt on Thursday confirmed that it will carry out a strategic review after reporting that full-year group revenue will be lower than previously expected due to losses in its Novaprep business.

In the first half of the year the cellular diagnostics firm saw revenues, excluding cancer diagnosis product developer Novaprep, rise by 8% to €7m but Novaprep saw its revenues almost halved to €0.6m from €1.1m last year.

Novaprep will now see a strategic review as its revenues were expected to dip but were further impacted by supply chain issues which will also affect its second half performance.

Group chief executive Graham Mullis said: "The rest of the group performed well and we continue to make good progress across our strategic objectives. This includes completing the acquisition of the infectious disease assets from Omega diagnostics."

Integration of the newly acquired assets has commenced, with the business having reported £2.5m in revenues and EBITDA of £0.3m for the year ended 31 March.

"The profitability of the recent ID business from Omega will add to the underlying EBITDA profitability of the group and we will continue to evaluate selected accretive acquisition opportunities and expect to provide an update on the NOVAprep business unit review in due course," said Mullis.

Novacyt’s shares were down 2.56% at 57.00p at 1216 BST.