Proteome Sciences shares slide as losses widen

Proteome Sciences released its unaudited interim results for the six months to 30 June on Thursday, with revenues to 30 June increasing 32% to £1.12m.

The AIM-traded company said revenue from licences, sales and services increased 44% to £1.08m during the period, while TMT reagent sales increased 27%.

Administrative expenses increased to £2.27m, from £2.07m a year ago, which the board said was to fund new equipment and recruitment.

Its loss after tax widened to £1.49m, from £1.44m.

“We are pleased to report that performance during the first six months of 2016 has been in line with expectations, and it is encouraging that revenues remain well ahead of the equivalent period in 2015 despite some delays to significant service contracts which are now scheduled to generate income later in the year,” said chief executive Jeremy Haigh.

“Managing the progress and delivery of a limited number of these core projects remains fundamental to the performance of our business.

“Our exclusive license to provide isobaric tagging reagents - TMT - to Thermo Scientific is increasingly profitable and sales growth is projected for the foreseeable future.”

Haigh said the widespread adoption of proteomics as a critical enabling technology for the discovery and development of targeted therapeutics was continuing to gather pace, and with it the opportunity for new entrants to the market which will require the company to be more competitive with its service offering, more efficient in the use of resources, and potentially more radical as it re-evaluates the “core elements” of the business.

“This is the first set of results since my appointment as CEO and I would like to thank all the staff at Proteome Sciences, our customers and collaborators, for their support over the last three months,” Haigh said.

At 1109 BST, shares in Proteome Sciences had plummeted 14.26% to 11.58p.