Horizon Discovery Group plc: Preliminary Results for the Year Ended 31 December 2016
30 May 2017 - 9:01PM
Horizon Discovery Group plc
("Horizon" or "the Company")
Preliminary Results for the Year Ended 31
December 2016
- Revenue of £24.1m in line with guidance
- Revenue growth of 19% driven by outperformance in Products
business
- Gross margin improvement to 54% driven by increased Product
sales volumes
- Operational efficiencies taking effect as the Group progresses
its Path to Profit strategy
Cambridge, UK, 30 May 2017: Horizon
Discovery Group plc (LSE: HZD), ("Horizon" or "the Group"), a world
leader in the application of gene editing technologies, announces
its preliminary results for the year ended 31 December
2016.
Financial highlights
- Group revenue increased by 19% to £24.1m (FY15: £20.2m)
- Product revenues increased by 45% to £11.3m (FY15 £7.8m)
- Services revenues increased by 5% to £12.7m (FY15: £12.2m) with
growth of 30% from in vitro and in vivo services offset by a
revenue capacity reduction resulting from consolidation of Boston,
USA molecular screening operations into the new Cambridge, UK
headquarters
- Increased share of revenues derived from Products to 47% (FY15:
39%)
- Group gross margin increased to 54% (FY15: 49%) driven by
significantly increased Product margins of 70% (FY15: 57%)
- Research milestone portfolio of approximately £208m (FY15:
£208m) plus royalties enhanced by equity upside from Avvinity joint
venture
- EBITDA loss from Products and Services before exceptional items
improved to £3.8m (FY15: £4.6m)
- Closing cash and cash equivalents of £6.1m (FY15: £25.1m)
underpinned by additional debt facility of £8m, undrawn at end of
2016
Post-period highlights
- Strong start to 2017, with Q1 revenue up c25% year on year,
underpinning guidance of FY17 revenue between £30-35m
- Immuno-oncology set to be a powerful growth driver generating
£1.5m in current and ongoing Products and Services in FY17 to date,
c40% increase over FY16, and >10 novel drug targets and
molecules in development for future or via joint-ventures or
spin-outs
- Exclusive licenses for the use of a novel transposon-based gene
editing platform, providing a unique approach to gene editing and
DNA delivery and enabling the use of gene editing in bioproduction,
diagnostics products and for the first time directly as a cell or
gene therapy
- Signing of a Master Services Agreement with a top three global
pharmaceutical company, extending support for their drug discovery
and development efforts to Horizon's full suite of services
- Expansion of license for the use of CRISPR with ERS Genomics to
allow the generation of GMP biomanufacturing cell lines
FY16 corporate highlights
- Strong commercial leadership recruited following business
reorganisation, with multiple long term partnerships entered into
across the business, driving recurring, visible, high margin
revenue
- Launch of eCommerce, Enterprise Resource Planning system and
laboratory automation systems and improved business
infrastructure
- Formation of a joint venture, Avvinity Therapeutics, with
Centauri Therapeutics Ltd, to explore the development and discovery
of novel therapeutics for immuno-oncology
- Establishment of Centre of Excellences for in vitro work in
Europe and for in vivo work in the US
- Focus on operational efficiencies through consolidation of
Boston, USA operations into Cambridge, UK headquarters and
management and business reorganisation into a more scalable and
efficient organisational design
Dr. Darrin M Disley, CEO of Horizon Discovery
Group plc, commented: "2016 was a strong year for the Group
characterised by continued robust revenue growth and the
realisation of operational efficiencies which are all driving the
Group towards a positive EBITDA on our trading business this
year.
"As outlined at the IPO, the focus of the Group
has been to invest for scale to drive a long-term high growth
trajectory for the business, and to support the Group's Path to
Profit strategy. Our Services business has a target to
deliver at least 15% revenue growth at a greater than 50% gross
margin, and our Products business has a target to deliver at least
30% growth with at least a 70% gross margin. This revenue mix
increasingly contains a larger share of Products and so we are
confident that our path to profitability and high growth trajectory
are truly underpinned.
"With a world-leading position in the
application of gene editing, Horizon now operates at the nexus of
three powerful forces that will drive life science research and
healthcare paradigms for decades to come, namely 1) the provision
of novel research and drug discovery tools designed to develop
personalised medicine and associated companion diagnostics; 2) the
development of novel cancer immunotherapies; and 3) the development
of cell and gene therapies. With our gene editing expertise
and scientific leadership, and global commercial resources, sales
channels and business systems now all in place, we are extremely
well positioned to take advantage of the international
opportunities before us and the Board is confident and excited
about Horizon's future."
ENDS
An analyst briefing will be held at 09:30am BST
on Tuesday 30 May 2017 at the offices of Numis Securities Ltd., 10
Paternoster Sq., London, EC4M 7LT. There will be a
simultaneous live conference call and the presentation will be
available on the Group's website
at www.horizondiscovery.com.
Please visit the website approximately five
minutes before the conference call, at 09:25 am BST, to download
the presentation slides. Conference call details:
Participant
dial-in:
08006940257
International dial-in: +44
(0) 1452 555566
Participant
code:
11812778
An audio replay file will be made available by
the end of the day on the Group's website at
https://www.horizondiscovery.com/about-us/investor-relations.
For further information, please contact:
Horizon Discovery Group plcDarrin Disley,
Chief Executive OfficerRichard Vellacott, Chief Financial
OfficerChris Claxton, VP Investor RelationsTel: +44 (0) 1223 655
580
Consilium Strategic Communications (Financial
Media and Investor Relations)Mary-Jane Elliott / Susan Stuart /
Matthew Neal / Melissa GardinerTel: +44 (0) 20 3709 5701Email:
horizon@consilium-comms.com
Numis Securities Limited (Broker and
NOMAD)Michael Meade / Freddie BarnfieldTel: +44 (0) 207
260 1000
About Horizon Discovery Group plc
www.horizondiscovery.com
Horizon Discovery Group plc (LSE: HZD)
("Horizon"), is a world-leading gene editing company that designs
and engineers genetically-modified cells and then applies them in
research and clinical applications that advance human health.
Horizon's core capabilities are built around its
proprietary translational genomics platform, a highly precise and
flexible suite of gene editing tools (rAAV, ZFN, CRISPR and
Transposon) able to alter almost any gene sequence in human or
mammalian cell-lines.
Horizon offers over 23,000 catalogue products
and related research services, almost all of which are based on the
generation and application of cell and animal models that
accurately recapitulate the disease-causing genetic anomalies found
in diseases like cancer. Horizon's commercial offering has been
adopted by more than 1,600 unique research organisations in over 50
countries as well as in the Company's own R&D pipeline to
support a greater understanding of the genetic drivers of disease
and the development of molecular, cell and gene therapies that can
be prescribed on a personalised basis.
Horizon is headquartered in Cambridge, UK,
and is listed on the London Stock Exchange's AIM market under the
ticker "HZD".
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