24th Sep 2018 10:03
LONDON (Alliance News) - Instem PLC said Monday it swung to a profit for the first half on the back of increased demand, particularly from Asia-Pacific customers.
For the six months ended June, the life sciences IT services firm swung to a pretax profit of GBP81,000 from a loss of GBP627,000 the year prior. This was after revenue rose 1.9% to GBP10.5 million from GBP10.3 million the year before.
Profit performance was also helped by a material fall in operating expenses to GBP9.0 million from GBP9.6 million the year before.
"We are very pleased with the performance of the business during the first half of 2018, with regulatory requirements delivering the expected significant increase in demand for our technology enabled outsourced services", Instem Chief Executive Officer Phil Reason said.
"Growth was also particularly strong in the Asia-Pacific region, with bookings up over 60% on the prior year, primarily attributable to the continuing funding of pharmaceutical research & development by the Chinese government", Reason added.
"With increasing momentum in the business from recent contract wins and the growing pipeline, we are confident about the outlook for the group for the rest of 2018 and beyond", Reason continued.
"While our strategy remains focused on organic revenue growth, expanding operational gearing and improving positive cashflow, management will continue to consider complementary acquisition targets, including transformational opportunities, to further develop our position as a market leading provider of IT solutions to the global life sciences market", Reason said.
Shares in Instem were 1.4% higher at 304.20 pence on Monday.
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