1st Apr 2016 09:08
LONDON (Alliance News) - Pre-clinical contract research organisation Cyprotex PLC on Friday said it will undertake a strategic review which may lead to the sale of the business, as its annual loss widened on finance costs.
Cyprotex said it would carry out a formal strategic review of the business and will examine all possible options, including a sale of the company or a strategic partnership.
The move came as Cyprotex said its pretax loss for the year to the end of December widened to GBP6.5 million from GBP4.0 million in 2014, mainly as a result of a higher financing costs related to the issue of loan notes.
Revenue increased to GBP15.6 million in 2015 from GBP11.8 million, and the group's gross margin improved to 77.3% from 75.0%, but this was offset on the profit line by the finance costs.
Cyprotex said it saw good organic growth for its core assay services and from all industry sectors its serves. The group's UK sites delivered higher profit for the year, while its US arm returned to operating profitability in the second half.
The group expects further solid performances in 2016, driven by the creation of its new Biosciences unit, for phenotypic and target-based drug discovery, and investments made in its toxicology assays and ADME assays.
Cyprotex shares were up 8.2% to 99.00 pence.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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