Medical diagnostics company Omega expects to report a 41% increase in revenues from £8.7m to £12.3m during the year ended 31 March 2022 - but is still seeking sources of funding, following a failed share offer last month.
A trading update explained that its health and nutrition division contributed £8.6m of revenue - up from £6.8m in 2021. Sales for the division last year were skewed by a large stocking order worth approximately £1.2m placed by the company’s largest partner in China to seed the market.
Excluding this stocking order from last year, underlying health and nutrition sales grew by 54%, driven by strong Food Print product sales; up 82%.
"This division remains one of the key areas of strategic focus, with substantial growth opportunities in both China and the US," read the statement.
Omega's global health division was up 97% to £3.8m - from £1.9m during 2020, while CD4 revenues increased to £1m from just £100,000 during 2021, as further progress was made to implement this type of testing in high HIV prevalence countries - and demand from aid agencies continues to grow.
Order intake is running ahead of available production and "the long-term prospects remain undiminished" for the roll-out of the the company's VISITECT CD4 Advanced Disease test.
However, following the recent share placing, which shareholders voted against, Omega continues to evaluate the strategic options for its CD4 business.
In March, shareholders rejected plan to raise £7m through a share issue, with acceptances for just 23.5% of the new shares received at closing.
Covid-19 related revenues contributed £2.6m - up from £1.7m during 2020 - however ongoing pandemic-related income is expected to be minimal.
"Whilst additional information requested for CE-Mark for self-test for the VISITECT Covid-19 antigen test was submitted prior to the 31 March 2022 deadline, not all of the data requested was available and the company awaits confirmation from its Notified Body as to whether the available data is sufficient," the update noted.
Omega remains in dispute with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and has yet to receive a response to the latest correspondence sent on 8 February.
At the company’s request, the DHSC is making arrangements to remove the UK Government-funded equipment from its Alva site.
Last month, Omega completed an agreement with Accubio - a wholly-owned subsidiary of Chinese group Zhejiang Orient Gene Biotech - to sell its diagnostic test kit manufacturing business and facility in Clackmannanshire, for £1m.
Net cash balance at the end of March was £1.5m, and while an overdraft facility of £2m remains in place and un-utilised, the company continues to actively explore alternative options to generate additional funds.
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