TIDMAVCT
RNS Number : 1440W
Avacta Group PLC
25 April 2016
25 April 2016
Avacta Group plc
("Avacta" or the "Group")
Interim Results for the Period Ended 31 January 2016
Avacta Group plc (AIM: AVCT), the developer of Affimer(R)
biotherapeutics and research reagents, announces its interim
results for the period ended 31 January 2016.
Highlights
Operational
-- Following the successful GBP21m fund raise in August 2015
that has allowed us to begin developing our own Affimer
biotherapeutics, we have made good progress on several
programmes.
o Several lead Affimer drug candidates identified against the
PD-L1 immune checkpoint target and we are progressing those in
pre-clinical studies.
o A key collaboration has been initiated with Dr Ramzi Ajjan at
the Leeds General Infirmary to carry out pre-clinical
characterisation of Affimer drug candidates that modulate blood
clotting.
o The research collaboration with Moderna is expanding with
increasing resources allocated to this programme during the
period.
-- Affimer technology evaluations started with 13 large pharma
and biotechs, including four of the 10 largest pharma companies,
several large diagnostics providers and numerous commercial
partners and academic institutes.
-- Dr Mike Owen, ex- SVP and global Head of Research of
Biopharmaceuticals R&D at GSK, appointed as Non-Executive
Director and Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board.
-- Dr Philippe Cotrel, ex-Commercial Operations Director at
Abcam, appointed as Chief Commercial Officer.
-- Mr Tony Gardiner, ex-Finance Director at AHR, appointed as Chief Financial Officer.
Financial
-- Half year revenue of GBP1.0m (GBP0.7m FY15) comprising of
GBP0.3m (GBP0.01m FY15) from Avacta Life Sciences and GBP0.7m
(GBP0.7m FY15) from Avacta Animal Health.
-- Operating loss from continuing operations GBP2.0m (GBP1.6m FY15).
-- Reported loss reduced to GBP1.8m (GBP6.6m FY15).
-- Cash balances increased to GBP25.0m (GBP7.3m 31 July 2015)
following completion of placing in August 2015.
Post-period highlights
-- Three world-class immunologists appointed to form the
Scientific Advisory Board to advise the Company on its
immuno-oncology drug development strategy.
-- Grant awarded to develop and potentially commercialise novel
Affimer reagents to reduce use of animals in life sciences
research.
-- Key technical milestone achieved in in-house therapeutic
programme: Multimeric Affimer constructs generated with excellent
production yields enabling, for instance, the construction of
"bispecific" Affimer molecules. Bispecific molecules are emerging
as essential components of many approaches to cancer
immuno-therapies.
-- Discovery programme initiated covering a range of immune
checkpoint targets, other tumour expressed antigens and T-cell
receptors.
Alastair Smith, Chief Executive Officer, commented:
"We have seen solid performance in all areas of Affimer
technology development during the period, continuing the
transformational progress made in 2015 following the fund raise in
August.
I am delighted with the additions to the Senior Leadership Team
with Tony Gardiner and Philippe Cotrel both joining us in the New
Year. They bring invaluable experience and insight and together we
have refined and focused the medium term reagents commercial
strategy into some key application areas where Affimer reagents
have the attributes for considerable commercial success.
I am also pleased to say that we have attracted an excellent
group of advisers to the Scientific Advisory Board. This group will
be key in helping to select therapeutic targets in immuno-oncology
and in guiding and reviewing our therapeutics development
programmes.
We have made good technical progress with our PD-L1 pre-clinical
programme and are now entering the discovery phase for a wide range
of other immune checkpoint and tumour cell antigen targets. The
initiation of a second programme to address bleeding disorders
through the research collaboration with Dr Ajjan is also an
important step towards our primary objective of getting the first
Affimer therapeutic into the clinic.
We are in a strong position having laid the technical and
commercial foundations and we are well funded to deliver on our
strategies. I look forward to keeping the market updated on our
progress."
Investor Evening
Avacta will be hosting an investor evening at the offices of FTI
Consulting, 200 Aldersgate, Aldersgate Street, London, EC1A 4HD, on
Thursday 5 May 2016 from 17.00-20.30 BST. The Company will discuss
its proprietary Affimer technology and provide an update on the
progress made against its commercial and therapeutic goals.
For further information and to reserve a place at the event
please contact:
avacta@fticonsulting.com
Avacta Group plc Tel: +44 (0) 844
Alastair Smith, Chief Executive 414 0452
Officer www.avacta.com
Tony Gardiner, Chief Financial
Officer
Numis Securities Limited Tel: +44 (0) 207
Michael Meade / Freddie Barnfield 260 1000
- Nominated Adviser www.numiscorp.com
James Black - Corporate Broking
WG Partners Tel: +44 (0) 203
David Wilson 705 9318
Nigel Barnes Tel: +44 (0) 203
Claes Spang 705 9217
www.wgpartners.co.uk
Media Enquiries Tel: +44 (0) 203
FTI Consulting 727 1000
Simon Conway / Natalie Garland-Collins avacta@fticonsulting.com
About Avacta Group plc - www.avacta.com
Avacta's principal focus is on its proprietary Affimer(R)
technology which is a novel engineered alternative to antibodies
that has wide application in Life Sciences for diagnostics,
therapeutics and general research and development.
Antibodies dominate markets worth in excess of $50bn despite
their shortcomings. Affimer technology has been designed to address
many of these negative performance issues, principally; the time
taken to generate new antibodies, the reliance on an animal's
immune response, poor specificity in many cases, and batch to batch
variability. Affimer technology is based on a small protein that
can be quickly generated to bind with high specificity and affinity
to a wide range of protein targets.
Avacta has a pre-clinical biotech development programme with an
in-house focus on oncology and bleeding disorders as well as
several partnered development programmes. Avacta is commercialising
non-therapeutic Affimer reagents through custom Affimer services to
provide bespoke solutions to research and diagnostics customers and
via a small on-line catalogue of Affimer products.
CHAIRMAN'S AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER'S REPORT
Business Overview
The Group has made substantial progress against key objectives
for its Affimer technology during the period, laying the commercial
and operational foundations required to support its anticipated
medium term growth plans and long term generation of value for
shareholders. Avacta Life Sciences is targeting long term,
significant value generation through in-house and partnered Affimer
therapeutic development programmes. The Company is also generating
nearer term revenues from Affimer reagents for research and
diagnostics addressing commercial opportunities where the Affimer
technology has particular competitive advantages rather than
choosing to compete head-to-head with established and effective
antibody reagents. Avacta Animal Health continues to build its
diagnostic test offering and develop its route to market to deliver
future growth.
Avacta Life Sciences
Avacta Life Sciences is a pre-clinical biotech developing
medicines based on its proprietary Affimer therapeutic protein
platform that will drive long term value, with nearer term revenues
being generated from research and diagnostics reagents.
Therapeutics Programme Strategy and Milestones
Following the Company's progress in demonstrating the potential
of Affimers as a therapeutic platform and the transformational
therapeutic partnership that was established with Moderna
Therapeutics in May 2015, Avacta successfully raised GBP21 million
net by way of a placing on 3 August 2015 with both existing and new
institutional shareholders.
The proceeds are being used to:
-- develop the Affimer technology as a next generation therapeutic platform through programmes demonstrating important performance properties such as ease of production and formatting, half-life extension, targeting and combination therapies.
-- generate a pipeline of therapeutic assets focusing on
immuno-oncology and blood clotting disorders; and
-- support co-development partnerships.
The primary strategic objective is to progress the first Affimer
therapeutic into the clinic as soon as possible. This is expected
to be achieved in approximately three years and this should be a
significant value inflection point when it occurs.
Other major interim therapeutic milestones during 2016-17 that
will also drive value include:
-- the outcome of efficacy, pharmacokinetics (PK) and
immunogenicity studies for the first few lead Affimer
candidates;
-- generation of a range of immune checkpoint Affimer inhibitors
and co-stimulatory receptor agonists;
-- results of in-vitro and in-vivo studies of Affimer blood clotting modulators;
-- demonstration of ease of manufacturing and functionality in
in-vitro assays of the first multi-specific Affimer immuno-oncology
therapy;
-- further therapeutic co-development partnerships or licensing deals; and
-- milestones associated with partnered programmes.
Platform Technology Development: The Critical Importance of
Multi-specific Drug Formats
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April 25, 2016 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT)
The immuno-oncology field is growing rapidly and there are many
high value therapeutic opportunities emerging. Most of these
opportunities rely on the development of "multi-specific" agents
that can bind to more than one target to produce combinatorial
therapeutic effects or to recruit immune cells such as T-cells to
the tumour site. Generally these multi-specific formats are
produced by "stringing together" into chains individual therapeutic
proteins that each hit a different target. Most importantly, the
final multi-specific system must be manufacturable. This is often
not the case for biotherapeutic molecules such as antibodies and
antibody fragments and the difficulty in manufacturing dimers,
trimers and tetramers becomes a significant barrier to development
of these important formats.
Affimer proteins are small, stable and have excellent production
yields and they should therefore be ideal for linking together to
form manufacturable multi-specific therapies. The Company has
therefore adopted an immuno-oncology strategy of developing a range
of inhibitors and agonists that can be combined to form
multi-specific therapies or for T-cell recruitment therapies. These
Affimer therapeutics could also be used in combination with
cytotoxic agents to develop the Affimer equivalent of
antibody-drug-conjugates but at the present time this lies outside
the scope of the Company's resources and plans.
Demonstration of the ease of manufacture of multi-specific
Affimer constructs is a key milestone that was set out at the time
of the placing in 2015. The Company has recently completed a key
study aimed at generating dimers, trimers and tetramers of its lead
programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) Affimer inhibitor as well as
building "Fc fusions", a second important class of therapeutic
construct. The study has shown that the production yield of all of
these constructs is very good and they are stable and resistant to
aggregation. Even the largest Affimer construct, a tetramer, has a
comparable production yield to that of the monomer Affimer molecule
itself producing hundreds of milligrams per litre in a simple,
un-optimised production process. These important results indicate
that the Affimer technology has potentially best-in-class
performance as a multi-specific therapeutic platform and a key
milestone has been achieved.
Immuno-oncology Programme Update
The first molecule in the Company's immune checkpoint programme
is aimed at inhibition of PD-L1. Good progress has been made during
the reporting period in identifying a large number of Affimer
candidates that bind to and inhibit the biology of this immune
checkpoint target. A number of such Affimer candidates have been
selected and are now in pre-clinical trials to evaluate
pharmacokinetics, serum stability, immunogenicity and efficacy.
These studies will be concluded early in 2017.
The discovery phase has now begun on a wide range of other
immune checkpoint targets and co-stimulatory receptors with the aim
of generating a portfolio of Affimer inhibitors and agonists from
which multi-specific combinations can be generated. One or two such
multi-specific combinations will then be taken forwards into
pre-clinical characterisation towards the end of 2016 to
demonstrate initial functionality in in-vitro cell based assays and
manufacturability, before entering a pre-clinical programme to be
carried out during 2017.
Blood Clotting Disorders Programme Update
During the reporting period the Company established a
significant research collaboration with Dr Ramzi Ajjan, a
consultant diabetologist and endocrinologist at the Leeds General
Infirmary, to gain access to his pre-clinical and clinical models
of blood clotting. Dr Ajjan evaluated Affimer proteins with regard
to their potential to bind to and modulate the behavior of
fibrinogen, a key protein involved in blood clotting. This proof of
concept work has discovered two families of Affimer molecules: one
that reduces clot formation and one that promotes clot formation.
These data suggest that anti-thrombotic treatments and treatments
for bleeding disorders are potentially achievable and, given Dr
Ajjan's clinical access, the Company believes that a development
programme in this area could provide a quick route to achieving its
primary objective of getting the first Affimer into the clinic. A
two year pre-clinical study was therefore initiated in February
2016 to study the effects of certain Affimer reagents on clot
formation and breakdown. This programme, funded by the Company and
to be carried out primarily in Dr Ajjan's research group at the
Leeds General Infirmary and Leeds Institute for Genetics, Health
and Therapeutics, will deliver in-vitro and in-vivo data on the
blood clotting modulation properties of a range of Affimer
candidates during the first 18 months of the work. The programme
will establish mechanism of action for lead candidates by the end
of the calendar year 2017 with a view to preparing for transition
from pre-clinical to clinical studies as soon as possible
thereafter.
Scientific Advisory Board
During the period Dr Mike Owen was appointed to the Group's
Board as a Non-Executive Director. Dr Owen was Senior Vice
President and Global Head of Research of the Biopharmaceuticals
R&D Unit at GlaxoSmithKline and was responsible for initiating
and rapidly growing GSK's robust pre-clinical and clinical
therapeutic antibody pipeline during the last decade through
in-house development as well as through acquisitions such as
Domantis. Dr Owen brings extensive clinical trial, scientific and
commercial experience to the Company in support of the therapeutics
development strategy.
Part of Dr Owen's role is to chair a Scientific Advisory Board
to provide guidance to the Affimer immuno-oncology therapeutic
development programme. In March the Company announced that it had
appointed three pre-eminent biologists to form the Scientific
Advisory Board: Professor Terrence Rabbitts of the University of
Oxford and John Radcliffe Hospital, Professor Adrian Hayday of the
Crick Institute King's College and Guy's Hospital, and Professor
Paul Moss, Director of the School of Cancer Sciences at Birmingham
University and Honorary Consultant at the University Hospitals
Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust.
Collectively, this group of internationally recognised
scientists has made numerous pivotal discoveries in immunology,
ranging from fundamental studies on the genes and proteins that
regulate the adaptive immune system to the development of
treatments for cancers, and has published several hundred
scientific papers on these subjects. They sit on a number of
Scientific Advisory Boards for pharmaceutical and biotechnology
companies, public and private funding bodies and charities. They
bring a very high level of scientific knowledge and experience in
translational science and clinical medicine and will help guide the
Company's therapeutic development strategy. They will also advise
on, and review, the pre-clinical and clinical programmes that will
establish Affimer proteins as a next generation biotherapeutic
technology.
Detailed biographies of the Scientific Advisory Board are
available at www.avacta.com/team.
Therapeutic Co-development Partnerships
The Company will update the market on progress being made in its
co-development partnerships, subject to the terms of its commercial
agreements, when significant milestones are achieved.
Research and Diagnostics Reagents: Strategy and Milestones
The Company's commercial strategy for the Affimer technology is
to provide Affimer research and diagnostic reagents to the wider
Life Sciences R&D market to complement antibodies where they
struggle rather than compete head-to-head with established antibody
products, as well as building long term value through its
therapeutic pipeline.
The commercialisation of Affimer reagents is being carried out
primarily via a custom Affimer reagents service and the Company is
also providing a small catalogue of Affimer reagents addressing
gaps in the antibody market.
Since the commercial launch of Affimer reagents late in 2014,
the fundamental benefits of the Affimer technology: high
specificity; rapid generation of new binders; stability and
robustness; ability to address targets which antibodies find
difficult or impossible; and batch to batch consistency are proving
successful in generating widespread customer interest. The custom
Affimer reagents sales pipeline has grown strongly, order intake
continues steadily and a number of Affimer technology evaluations
are underway. The Company is engaged with a wide range of customers
including large pharma and biotechs, a number of diagnostics
providers, several large bioprocessing and chromatography
companies, and several EU, US and Asian academic and research
institutes.
The Company has appointed a Chief Commercial Officer to build on
this early success, lead the commercial strategy and business
development activities, and to drive the commercialisation of the
Affimer technology. Dr Philippe Cotrel has joined the Company from
Abcam where he was Commercial Operations Director and was
responsible for all sales and marketing activities, successfully
growing revenue from GBP37 million to GBP144 million over a 7-year
period.
(MORE TO FOLLOW) Dow Jones Newswires
April 25, 2016 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT)
Antibodies are a well established technology and, in
applications where good quality antibodies are working well, the
Company does not intend to try to compete head-to-head. Based on
the technical benefits of Affimers outlined above the Company
believes that the most effective commercial strategy is to provide
complementary research and diagnostic reagents in high value
applications where there is a technical or commercial benefit over
the alternatives. There are a number of such applications and the
Company has reviewed these opportunities in detail and is now
focusing its R&D and business development resources in the near
term on providing high quality custom Affimer reagents to third
parties who have the potential to market Affimer powered products
such as diagnostics and reagent kits in three main application
areas: immunoassays, affinity separation and lateral flow devices.
This near term focus will be used to guide the application of
internal R&D and commercial resources and does not exclude
working with partners in other areas on demand.
The Company is now engaged in a programme of tailoring its
discovery processes to generate Affimers with performance benefits
specific to these application areas and working with partners to
demonstrate the technical and commercial benefits of Affimers in
real-world commercial examples. The Company will report on these
key technical milestones and on commercial agreements in these
application areas as they are completed subject to any
confidentiality restrictions required by partners.
A key aspect of the Affimer reagents business model is that a
proportion of custom Affimer projects and evaluations will lead to
longer term commercial partnerships generating payments for
exclusivity, development milestones and longer term royalties on
sales of Affimer containing products. Affimer technology
evaluations have started with thirteen large pharma and biotechs,
including four of the ten largest pharma companies, and with
several diagnostics providers including one of the top three, and
numerous other commercial partners and academic institutes. The
establishment of longer term commercial relationships with third
parties who can take products "powered by Affimer technology" to
market is the primary commercial objective that will drive value
rather than near term revenues. Whilst it is difficult to predict
the timing of the completion of these evaluations, the Company
expects to be able to announce the first of these longer term
commercial partnerships over the coming year.
Avacta Animal Health
Trading in Avacta Animal Health was in line with our
expectations.
Since the period end the Company has launched an equine allergy
test which was developed in-house and is offered as a laboratory
service in the UK. It is expected to be offered to laboratories in
Europe in due course. Further product launches are expected in the
second half of the year which will contribute to revenue from the
start of the next financial year.
Future developments will include the Group's Affimer technology
to help achieve market leading performance in a number of tests
along with additional multi-marker algorithms.
The core allergy market remains competitive but Avacta Animal
Health has maintained its position through a number of marketing
and sales initiatives and excellent customer service.
Financial Overview
Revenue for the six month period ended 31 January 2016 was
GBP1.05 million (2015: GBP0.73 million).
Revenue contribution from the Group's Affimer life sciences
business increased to GBP0.35 million (2015: negligible) and there
was a small reduction in revenue from the Animal Health diagnostic
testing business to GBP0.70 million (2015: GBP0.73 million).
As the Company commercialises its Affimer technology, the
variety and structure of commercial agreements that may be entered
into is becoming clearer. Revenue recognition of upfront and other
payments received will be spread over the relevant period as
defined by obligations set out in the commercial agreements. Whilst
not impacting cash flows from such agreements this will provide
visibility of revenues as the Company grows.
Overheads have increased to GBP2.65 million (2015: GBP2.07
million). This is due to the substantial increase in overhead in
the Affimer life sciences business, following the establishment of
the commercial and operational delivery teams and associated
activities invested ahead of anticipated revenue generation.
The Group's operating loss before amortisation and share based
payment charges increased to GBP1.91 million (2015: GBP1.47
million) and the reported operating loss from continuing operations
increased to GBP2.04 million (2015: GBP1.60 million).
The basic loss per share increased to 2.61p (2015: 0.13p).
The Group capitalised GBP1.21 million (2015: GBP1.28 million) of
development costs, primarily relating to the Affimer technology
development programmes. These development costs are recognised
within the total intangible asset value of GBP11.54 million (31
July 2015: GBP10.36 million).
On 3 August 2015, the Company raised GBP22.0 million (before
expenses) through a placing of 1,760,000,000 ordinary shares of 0.1
pence each at a placing price of 1.25 pence per share.
There was a cash outflow from operations of GBP2.39 million (31
January 2015: GBP1.67 million) and an outflow from investing
activities of GBP1.61 million (31 January 2015: GBP1.98 million)
during the period. The Group ended the period with GBP24.98 million
net cash (31 July 2015: GBP7.33 million).
On 26 January 2016, following approval by shareholders at the
Annual General Meeting on 25 January 2016, the Company completed a
share consolidation, creating 1 new ordinary share of 10 pence each
for every 100 existing ordinary shares of 0.1 pence each. The new
10 pence ordinary shares carry the same rights as the old 0.1 pence
ordinary shares. Following the share consolidation, the Company had
a total of 67,462,959 ordinary shares of 10 pence each in
issue.
Having received approval by shareholders at the Annual General
Meeting on 25 January 2016, following the period end on 24 February
2016, the Company having subsequently received Court Approval, has
had its share premium account totaling GBP55.44 million cancelled,
which has enabled the Company to generate sufficient distributable
reserves to allow the declaration of dividends in the future should
the Board determine to do so. The Company currently has no current
intention to declare a dividend.
As announced on 7 July 2015, Tim Sykes, who held the part-time
role of Chief Financial Officer since IPO, informed the Board he
wished to step down from this role to pursue other business
interests. Mr Tony Gardiner was appointed as Chief Financial
Officer on 4 January 2016. Tony joined Avacta from AHR an
international architecture and building consultancy practice where
he was Finance Director since 2011. Prior to this, Tony was the
Chief Financial Officer of AIM listed Fusion IP plc, an IP
commercialisation company, which was subsequently acquired by IP
Group plc in 2014. Here, he played a key role in supporting the
Chief Executive Officer in growing the business and oversaw all
finance activities as well as directly supporting life sciences and
health technology companies in Fusion's portfolio.
Outlook
The Company has laid solid technical and commercial foundations
during the past twelve months and is well funded to carry out its
current Affimer therapeutic development plans and to grow its
revenues from research and diagnostics Affimer reagents. The Senior
Leadership Team and Scientific Advisory Board are in place and
shortly the Company will move into larger facilities in both
Wetherby and Cambridge.
The Company has today set out in more detail its therapeutic
development programmes and its commercial strategy for the reagents
business including key milestones over 2016-17 against which it
will report progress.
Progress in the reporting period has continued the operational
and commercial advances made in 2015 and the Company is confident
of its ongoing performance against its stated objectives.
Dr Trevor Nicholls Dr Alastair Smith
Chairman Chief Executive Officer
25 April 2016 25 April 2016
Condensed consolidated income statement
for the six month period ended 31 January 2016
Unaudited Unaudited Audited
6 months 6 months Year ended
to to 31 July
31 January 31 January 2015
2016 2015
GBP000 GBP000 GBP000
Revenue 1,048 725 1,813
Cost of sales (438) (254) (526)
------------ ------------ -----------
Gross profit 610 471 1,287
Administrative expenses (2,654) (2,070) (6,854)
Operating loss before
non-recurring items,
amortisation and share
based payment charges (1,914) (1,469) (2,853)
Amortisation of development
costs (34) - (58)
Impairment of intangible
assets - - (2,407)
Share based payment
charges (96) (130) (249)
------------------------------------------------------ ------------ ------------ -----------
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April 25, 2016 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT)
Operating loss (2,044) (1,599) (5,567)
Finance income 40 16 26
Loss before taxation
from continuing operations (2,004) (1,583) (5,541)
Taxation 250 - 648
Loss after taxation
from continuing operations (1,754) (1,583) (4,893)
Loss from discontinued
operations, net of
tax - (5,045) (5,098)
Loss (1,754) (6,628) (9,991)
------------ ------------ -----------
Other comprehensive
income
* Share based payment charges 96 130 265
------------ ------------ -----------
Total comprehensive
income (1,658) (6,498) (9,726)
------------ ------------ -----------
Loss per ordinary share:
* Basic and diluted *(2.61p) (0.13p) (0.20p)
* Basic and diluted from continuing activities *(2.61p) (0.04p) (0.10p)
* On 26(th) January 2016, following approval by shareholders at
the Annual General Meeting on 25(th) January 2016, Avacta Group plc
completed a share consolidation, creating 1 new ordinary share of
10p each for every 100 existing ordinary shares of 0.1p each.
Condensed consolidated statement of changes in equity
as at 31 January 2016
Unaudited Unaudited Unaudited Unaudited Unaudited Unaudited Unaudited
Share Share Other Capital Reserve Retained Total
capital premium reserve reserve for earnings Equity
own
shares
GBP000 GBP000 GBP000 GBP000 GBP000 GBP000 GBP000
At 1 August
2014 5,045 35,747 (1,729) 2,669 (1,590) (11,305) 28,837
Result for
the period - - - - - (6,628) (6,628)
Shares issued
for cash 7 6 - - - - 13
Share based
payment charges - - - - - 130 130
---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
At 31 January
2015 5,052 35,753 (1,729) 2,669 (1,590) (17,803) 22,352
---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
Result for
the period - - - - - (3,363) (3,363)
Shares issued
for cash 5 3 - - - - 8
Share based
payment charges - - - - - 135 135
---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
At 1 August
2015 5,057 35,756 (1,729) 2,669 (1,590) (21,031) 19,132
Result for
the period - - - - - (1,754) (1,754)
Shares issued
for cash 1,767 19,275 - - - - 21,042
Share based
payment charges - - - - - 96 96
---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
At 31 January
2016 6,824 55,031 (1,729) 2,669 (1,590) (22,689) 38,516
---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
Condensed consolidated balance sheet
at 31 January 2016
Unaudited Unaudited Audited
As at 31 As at As at 31
January 31 January July 2015
2016 2015
GBP000 GBP000 GBP000
Non-current assets
Intangible assets 11,538 10,981 10,360
Property, plant
& equipment 1,647 1,756 1,546
13,185 12,737 11,906
---------- ------------ -----------
Current assets
Inventories 323 301 333
Trade and other
receivables 966 657 767
Assets held for - 2,210 -
resale
Income taxes 750 425 1,066
Cash and cash equivalents 24,978 7,856 7,330
---------- ------------ -----------
27,017 11,449 9,496
---------- ------------ -----------
Total assets 40,202 24,186 21,402
---------- ------------ -----------
Current liabilities
Trade and other
payables (856) (1,012) (1,407)
Contingent consideration (362) (350) (395)
(1,218) (1,362) (1,802)
---------- ------------ -----------
Non-current liabilities
Contingent consideration (468) (472) (468)
Total liabilities (1,686) (1,834) (2,270)
---------- ------------ -----------
Net assets 38,516 22,352 19,132
---------- ------------ -----------
Equity attributable
to equity holders
of the Company
Share capital 6,824 5,052 5,057
Share premium 55,031 35,753 35,756
Other reserve (1,729) (1,729) (1,729)
Capital reserve 2,669 2,669 2,669
Reserve for own
shares (1,590) (1,590) (1,590)
Retained earnings (22,689) (17,803) (21,031)
---------- ------------ -----------
Total equity 38,516 22,352 19,132
---------- ------------ -----------
Total equity is wholly attributable to equity holders of the
parent Company.
Condensed consolidated cash flow statement
for the six month period ended 31 January 2016
Unaudited Unaudited Audited
6 months 6 months Year ended
to to 31 July
31 January 31 January 2015
2016 2015
GBP000 GBP000 GBP000
Cash flow from operating
activities
Loss for the period (1,754) (6,628) (9,991)
Loss on disposal and impairment
of goodwill on discontinued
operations - 4,816 4,793
Amortisation and impairment
losses 34 - 2,465
Depreciation 299 254 518
Loss on disposal of property,
plant and equipment - - 33
Equity settled share based
payment charges 96 130 265
Financial income (40) (16) (26)
Income tax credit (250) - (648)
------------ ------------ -----------
Operating cash outflow
before changes in working
capital (1,615) (1,444) (2,591)
Movement in inventories 10 (179) (210)
Movement in trade and
other receivables (202) 328 197
Movement in trade and
other payables (584) (376) 56
------------ ------------ -----------
Operating cash outflow
from operations (2,391) (1,671) (2,548)
Finance income received 40 16 26
Income tax received 566 - 7
Cash flows from operating
activities (1,785) (1,655) (2,515)
------------ ------------ -----------
Cash flows from investing
activities
Purchase of plant and
equipment (398) (705) (806)
Development expenditure
capitalised (1,211) (1,277) (3,060)
Disposal of discontinued
operations - - 2,210
(MORE TO FOLLOW) Dow Jones Newswires
April 25, 2016 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT)
Net cash flow from investing
activities (1,609) (1,982) (1,656)
------------ ------------ -----------
Cash flows from financing
activities
Proceeds from issue of
new shares 21,042 13 21
Net cash flow from financing
activities 21,042 13 21
------------ ------------ -----------
Net increase/(decrease)
in cash and cash equivalents 17,648 (3,624) (4,150)
Cash and cash equivalents
at the beginning of the
period 7,330 11,480 11,480
------------ ------------ -----------
Cash and cash equivalents
at the end of the period 24,978 7,856 7,330
------------ ------------ -----------
Unaudited notes
Basis of preparation and accounting policies
Avacta Group plc is a company incorporated in England and Wales
under the Companies Act 2006.
The condensed financial statements are unaudited and were
approved by the Board of Directors on 22 April 2016.
The interim financial information for the six months ended 31
January 2016, including comparative financial information, has been
prepared on the same basis of preparation and using the same
accounting policies as set out in the last annual report and
accounts and in accordance with International Financial Reporting
Standards ("IFRS"), including IAS 34 (Interim Financial Reporting),
as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board and
adopted by the European Union.
The preparation of the interim financial statements requires
management to make judgements, estimates and assumptions that
affect the application of accounting policies and the reported
amounts of assets, liabilities, income and expense. Actual results
may subsequently differ from those estimates. In preparing the
interim financial statements, the significant judgements made by
management in applying the Group's accounting policies and key
sources of estimation uncertainty were the same, in all material
respects, as those applied to the consolidated financial statements
for the year ended 31 July 2015.
The Group experiences no material variations in performance
arising due to seasonality.
Information extracted from 2015 Annual Report
The financial figures for the year ended 31 July 2015, as set
out in this report, do not constitute statutory accounts but are
derived from the statutory accounts for that financial year.
The statutory accounts for the year ended 31 July 2015 were
prepared under IFRS and have been delivered to the Registrar of
Companies. The auditors reported on those accounts. Their report
was unqualified, did not draw attention to any matters by way of
emphasis and did not include a statement under Section 498(2) or
498(3) of the Companies Act 2006.
The Board confirms that to the best of its knowledge:
The condensed set of financial statements has been prepared in
accordance with IAS34 'Interim Financial Reporting' as adopted by
the EU;
The interim management report includes a fair review of the
information required by:
DTR 4.2.7R of the Disclosure and Transparency Rules, being an
indication of important events that have occurred during the first
six months of the financial year and their impact on the condensed
set of financial statements, and a description of the principal
risks and uncertainties for the remaining six months of the year;
and
DTR4.2.8R of the Disclosure and Transparency Rules, being
related party transactions that have taken place in the first six
months of the current financial year and that have materially
affected the financial position or performance of the entity during
that period; and any changes in the related party transactions
described in the last annual report that could do so.
Loss per share
Unaudited Unaudited Audited
6 months 6 months Year ended
to to 31 July
31 January 31 January 2015
2016 2015
Weighted number of
Ordinary shares in
issue 67,140,183* 4,968,709,333 4,972,981,605
------------ -------------- --------------
Loss from continuing
activities (GBP000) (1,754) (1,583) (4,893)
Loss from discontinued
operations (GBP000) - (5,045) (5,098)
------------ -------------- --------------
Loss for the period
(GBP000) (1,754) (6,628) (9,991)
------------ -------------- --------------
Loss per Ordinary
share:
* Basic and diluted from continuing activities (p) 2.61* 0.03 0.10
------------ -------------- --------------
* Basic and diluted (p) 2.61* 0.13 0.20
------------ -------------- --------------
* On 26(th) January 2016, following approval by shareholders at
the Annual General Meeting on 25(th) January 2016, Avacta Group plc
completed a share consolidation, creating 1 new ordinary share of
10p each for every 100 existing ordinary shares of 0.1p each.
Following the share consolidation, the Company had a total of
67,462,959 ordinary shares of 10 pence each in issue.
Adoption of FRS 101 for the year ended 31 July 2016
In 2012, the FRC, being the standard setting body in the UK,
published FRS 101 'Reduced Disclosure Framework'. This outlines a
reduced disclosure framework available to qualifying entities and
all UK companies will be required to adopt this or an alternative
standard for accounting periods commencing on or after 1 January
2015. Avacta Group plc intends to prepare its accounts under FRS
101 for the year ending 31 July 2016 and to take advantage of the
permitted disclosure exemptions allowed. Following adoption of FRS
101, the financial position of the parent company, and the related
disclosures after taking the possible exemptions permitted under
FRS 101, are expected to be the same as, or follow closely, those
reported under previous UK GAAP. The consolidated accounts for the
Group will continue to be prepared under full IFRS and are
unaffected by this new accounting framework.
The Board considers that it is in the best interests of the
Group for Avacta Group plc to adopt FRS 101 'Reduced Disclosure
Framework' and the Company's decision to adopt FRS 101 for its
parent company's financial statements does not require shareholder
approval. However, a shareholder or shareholders holding in
aggregate five per cent or more of the total allotted shares in
Avacta Group plc may serve objections to the use of the disclosure
exemptions on Avacta Group plc, in writing, to its registered
office (Unit 651, Street 5, Thorp Arch Estate, Wetherby LS23 7FZ)
not later than 25 May 2016 and, if so received, Avacta Group plc
may not use these disclosure exemptions.
By Order of the Board
Dr Alastair Smith Tony Gardiner
Chief Executive Officer Chief Financial Officer
25 April 2016 25 April 2016
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
IR AKQDKDBKBPQB
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 25, 2016 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT)
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