Venture Life's half-year revenues get shot in the arm from acquisition

AIM-listed self-care company Venture Life, which focuses on developing and manufacturing products for an ageing population, reported a rise in half-year revenues thanks in large part to a recent acquisition.

For the six months ended 30 June, revenue increased by 40% to £6.1m, when compared to the same period last year, which resulted in a 47% rise in gross profits to £2.3m and helped increase gross margin to 37%.

Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) rebounded to £0.1m after a £400,000 loss last year.

Revenue for the brands business, where the company develops under license-branded products manufactured at its Biokosmes facility in Italy, grew significantly to £1.2m from £100,000, which represents about 20% of total revenue.

Revenues for the development and manufacturing business at Biokosmes increased by 15% to £4.9m due to a combination of organic growth for existing products and the development and manufacture of new products for customers.

Loss before tax, amortisation and exceptional items narrowed by 25% to £300,000.

Cash by the end of June was £1.6m, down about 45% from December 2015.

In March, the company bought the UltraDEX oral care products brand with Periproducts for £5.7m, which was funded by a £1.7m share placing and the issue of a £1.9m convertible bond.

During the six-month span, the company also inked nine long-term exclusive distribution agreements, including supplying UltraDEX in Spain, Malaysia and China and the Benecol once-a-day liquid sachet in Turkey and Jordan.

Chief executive Jerry Randall said “strong” revenue growth and moving into positive EBITDA for the first time were a testament to the company’s strategy to utilise its operational leverage to drive revenue and profitability and that it was already realising the anticipated synergies from the UltraDEX acquisition.

He added: “This is now the second successful acquisition we have undertaken in two years, and I expect us to continue to explore merger and acquisition opportunities to complement our core organic growth, and drive sustainable profitability for the group over the long-term."

Shares in Venture Life were down 0.95% to 52p at 1256 BST.