Tougher market conditions impacting Angle clients

Liquid biopsy specialist Angle said in an update on Thursday that actions taken to control its cost base, and the closure of its Canadian operations, left it on track to deliver expected cost savings of £2.6m in 2023 and £4m per annum after that.

The AIM-traded firm said the closure resulted in £1m of non-cash write-offs of intangible and tangible assets, and £1m of closure costs.

Cash at the end of 2022 was expected to be in line with expectations at £32m, with the company carrying no debt.

Reported revenue for the year ended 31 December was expected to be just above £1m, while its operating loss for the year was estimated at £22m and, excluding the one-off closure costs for Canada, was also in line with expectations.

Approximately £0.5m of revenue expected in 2022 was now expected to be recognised in 2023, however, due to delays outside the company's control, and a number of expected sales were either delayed or impacted by the wider market backdrop.

Due to current, adverse market conditions, the need across the industry to control expenditure had affected a number of pipeline opportunities, the board explained, with some customers focusing on their nearer-term assets with additional buyer caution.

Revenue for 2023 was expected to show strong growth, but likely to be “materially below” current market expectations.

Encouragingly, the firm said it had already seen several new orders confirmed in the first week of January, which could reflect customers awaiting the start of their new budget year.

The board said the pipeline for both pharma and product sales remained “strong and growing”, with its distributor network build out progressing as planned.

Angle said it remained confident in its opportunities, delivering on commercial milestones, building revenues and controlling costs.

“It has been a breakthrough year for Angle, with both FDA clearance and excellent results from the ovarian cancer study,” said founder and chief executive officer Andrew Newland.

“Whilst we have not yet seen the expected acceleration in revenue, the pipeline of opportunities is growing strongly and we are encouraged by the level of engagement with pharma companies, including major pharma companies, medtech companies and clinical laboratories globally.

“Angle has the resources in place to deliver on its strategic and commercial plans and starts the new year cautiously optimistic despite the challenging market.”

At 1620 GMT, shares in Angle were down 36.25% at 30.62p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.