Ixico confident after first-half revenues fall

The AIM-traded firm said its contracted order book stood at £12.6m at the end of the first half on 31 March, compared to £19m at the same time last year.

It said its cash balance remained “strong” at £5.8m, down from £7.0m, while the company was debt-free and operating cash generative.

Ixico said EBITDA was expected to be positive, having reported a result of £0.9m for the first half of the 2021 financial year.

Across the first six months, the company said it performed in line with its forecast, with the board still expecting to deliver a stronger second half to meet full-year market expectations.

The board said the extended impact of Covid-19 and the lost multi-year revenue from the halting of certain large client trials over the last year had interrupted the company's five-year record of continuous revenue growth at the half-year point.

It said it was still, however, continuing to diversify its order book of contracted clients, and investing in its proprietary artificial intelligence (AI) technology platform and scientific capabilities as it pursued scale.

Continued growth in investment by the global pharmaceutical industry in a range of neurological indication disease treatments, coupled with the increasing focus on imaging biomarkers to support and de-risk patient recruitment, safety and drug efficacy in clinical trials, favoured Ixico’s business across the medium- and long-term, the directors said.

Those market drivers, coupled with an ageing population, underpinned the company's continued investment, they added.

“I am satisfied with Ixico’s performance over the past six months, delivering positive EBITDA and positive operating cash, given the challenges we have faced with the halting of several important client trials representing significant multi-year revenue opportunities,” said chief executive officer Giulio Cerroni.

“The results delivered do not reflect the growth opportunity we see in front of us; rather a necessary period of consolidation as we continue to diversify our contracted order book.”

Cerroni said Ixico was “well-placed” for the future with a “leading” scientific offering in the neurological disease area, where there was an “urgent search” for efficacious drugs to address the growing dementias epidemic.

“Having focussed investments on our science and technology offering we are, despite recent challenges, better placed than ever to achieve scale across the medium and long term to support our clients in their critical endeavours.”

Ixico said it would report its results for the six months ended 31 March on 24 May.

At 0957 BST, shares in Ixico were down 3.68% at 36.6p.