BATM Advanced Communications Ld Business and Trading Update (0037R)
25 June 2020 - 4:00PM
UK Regulatory
TIDMBVC
RNS Number : 0037R
BATM Advanced Communications Ld
25 June 2020
LEI: 213800FLQUB9J289RU66
25 June 2020
BATM Advanced Communications Limited
("BATM" or "the Group")
Business and Trading Update
BATM (LSE: BVC; TASE: BVC), a leading provider of real-time
technologies for networking solutions and medical laboratory
systems, provides the following business and trading update.
Further to the Group's announcement of 30 April 2020, in which
BATM provided an update on the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on
its two divisions, the Group is pleased to report that the
Bio-Medical division has performed exceptionally well throughout
the first half of the year. This has been based on several
initiatives, such as the sale of antigen and antibody testing kits
to health authorities in various countries as well as the sale of
critical care ventilators. The Networking & Cyber division was
only slightly impacted by COVID-19 in Q1 2020, with sales remaining
higher than in Q1 2019. As previously noted, there was some
slowdown in this division in the early part of Q2 2020 as lockdowns
commenced across the globe. However, since late May 2020 this
division has seen a return towards normal trading as some customers
who had temporarily postponed certain projects have commenced
discussions and, as lockdown measures are increasingly lifted, the
division is recommencing the activities it could not perform
previously due to the restrictions on travelling to the premise of
a customer or a supplier. While it is still early days, this gives
confidence to the management team that the full year impact of the
pandemic on the Networking & Cyber division will now be
minimal.
As a result of the considerable growth in the Bio-Medical
division, which has more than offset any loss of revenues in the
Networking & Cyber division, BATM now expects to report a
substantial increase in FY 2020 revenues, at least 25% higher than
FY 2019 and materially higher than market expectations. It also
expects to report EBITDA significantly ahead of market
expectations.
The growth in the Bio-Medical division is due to the substantial
investment the Group has made in recent years to build a
best-in-class diagnostics platform. This division is able to
quickly provide solutions that include diagnostic kits for any new
pathogen that appears and devices including diagnostic instruments,
ventilators and pathogenic waste disposal units. As a result, this
division was able to respond rapidly when it was first alerted to
the potential outbreak of COVID-19.
In the first half, the Group was able to launch a new
diagnostics antigen molecular (RTPCR) test kit to detect COVID-19
that underwent clinical verification and evaluation by leading
universities and hospitals in February and received certification
at the end of March 2020. Additionally, in May 2020, the Group
launched ELISA lab serological test kits that diagnose if a patient
has had COVID-19 by detecting antibodies against it present in
their blood. Production and sales of both kits have been ramping up
and the Group has shipped several hundred thousand test kits with a
backlog of over a million orders still to be delivered.
In addition to the sales of the newly launched kits (reagents),
the Group has received increased demand for its instruments
(readers). During the summer months, the Group is adding further
production capacity for its reagents and instruments to satisfy
potential orders from the continued interest the Group is receiving
from around the world.
As previously announced, the Group is in the process of
developing, in partnership with Novamed, a rapid COVID-19
diagnostics antigen test kit for home-use, which is expected to be
completed in the coming months with sales commencing in the fourth
quarter of the year. The Group is also in the advanced stages of
development of unique solutions that are expected to be
commercially released in September 2020 in anticipation of a second
wave of several respiratory pathogens, particularly flu and
coronavirus.
Finally, during the first half of 2020, the Group received an
order of EUR29m (c. $31m) from a European government to provide
1,000 critical care ventilators to support their response to
COVID-19. The Group has made significant progress towards
completing the delivery of the contract on time.
BATM is also pleased to announce that it has attracted
significant talent into the business to manage the increased
interest that is being received. In June 2020, it appointed former
Roche Executive, Jeremy Moss, as its Global Head of Point of Care.
Mr Moss, who will operate from the UK, has served various senior
roles at Roche over the past 22 years, most recently Head of
Management Centre European Agents (MCEA) and Senior Vice President
Roche Centralised and Point of Care Solutions.
The Group continues to work hard to ensure its employees are
fully supported in remaining safe, well and able to work. The Board
believes that, with the actions taken to date in response to the
pandemic along with the further work to be undertaken to achieve
the Group's strategic objectives in 2020, BATM will continue to
deliver shareholder value.
BATM will provide further details in its Interim Results
announcement in August 2020.
Enquiries:
BATM Advanced Communications
Dr Zvi Marom, Chief Executive Officer +972 9866 2525
Moti Nagar, Chief Financial Officer
Shore Capital
Mark Percy, Anita Ghanekar, James Thomas (Corporate Advisory)
Henry Willcocks (Corporate Broking) +44 20 7408 4050
Luther Pendragon
Harry Chathli, Claire Norbury +44 20 7618 9100
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END
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