Close
Biotechgate
| |

Home Page

Action required: Please refresh your browser

We have recently implemented some changes that require a hard refresh of your browser: Please hold down the CTRL-key and press the F5 key.
After a successful hard refresh, this message should not appear anymore.

More details about this topic are available here »

Horizon Discovery Group plc: Results for the Six Months Ended 30 June 2019
By: Nasdaq / GlobeNewswire - 16 Sep 2019Back to overview list

RNS

Horizon Discovery Group plc
Results for the Six Months Ended 30 June 2019

Cambridge, UK, 16 September 2019: Horizon Discovery Group plc (LSE: HZD) ("Horizon", "the Group" or “the Company”), a global leader in the application of gene editing and gene modulation technologies, today announces its results for the six months ended 30 June 2019.

Group Financial highlights

  • Reported revenue of £28.6m an increase of 13.9% on the prior year (HY18: £25.1m) or growth of 8.8% on a constant currency basis1
  • Gross margin increased by 5.3 percentage points to 68.5% (HY18: 63.2%)
  • Adjusted EBITDA1 loss of £0.9m2 (HY18: £2.2m loss), including a positive impact of £1.3m from the implementation of IFRS 16 Leases
  • Loss after taxation2 of £5.3m for the half year (HY18: £7.6m)
  • Cash position at 30 June 2019 of £24.8m (HY18: £24.9m)

Business Unit performance*

  • Research Reagents: Reported revenue of £16.5m up 11.5% on the prior half year period (HY18: £14.8m) or growth of 6.8% on a constant currency basis1
  • Screening: Reported revenue of £4.3m up 38.7% on the prior half year period (HY18: £3.1m) or growth of 32.3% on a constant currency basis1
  • Bioproduction: Reported revenue of £2.8m up 154.5% on the prior half year period (HY18: £1.1m) or growth of 145.5% on a constant currency basis1
  • Diagnostics: Reported revenue of £2.5m down 28.6% on the prior half year period (HY18: £3.5m) or a decline of 31.4% on a constant currency basis1
  • In Vivo: Reported revenue of £2.5m down 3.8% on the prior half year period (HY18: £2.6m) or a decline of 11.5% on a constant currency basis1

Other

  • Post period end, licensing partner Celyad received FDA acceptance of an IND filing for CYAD-02 its CAR-T cell therapy based on Horizon’s optimized SMARTvector™ shRNA technology, triggering the first milestone payment to the Group
  • Product revenue increased 14.6% to £22.8m (HY18: £19.9m); Service revenue increased 11.5% to £5.8m (HY18: £5.2m)

Financial Outlook

  • Strong start to trading in H2 2019
  • Revenues for FY19 are expected to be second half weighted (consistent with previous years) and in line with current market expectations
  • The Group is trading in line with expectations for FY 2019

1                                             Refer to the financial review for the definition and reconciliation of alternate performance measures
2                                            The HY19 results incorporate the impact of adopting IFRS16 Leases. Refer to the financial review for the reconciliation
*New market aligned business unit structure introduced in January 2019.  Prior year equivalents provided for comparison.  A detailed explanation of the performance of each Business Unit is provided in the CEO Review.

Terry Pizzie, Chief Executive Officer of Horizon Discovery, commented: 
“Horizon has enjoyed a solid performance in the first half of the year with the business as a whole performing in line with expectations.”

“I am pleased to report Group revenues of £28.6m, an increase of 13.9% on the prior year (HY18: £25.1m) or a growth of 8.8% on a constant currency basis. This growth has largely been driven by strong performance in the Group’s Bioproduction and Screening business units, which increased revenues by 154.5% and 38.7% respectively. The Group’s Research Reagent business unit, which encompasses more than half of Group revenues, also had a good start to the year and we expect strong growth in the second half as this Business Unit benefits from the increased capacity in Cell Line engineering that we have implemented in the first half. We have experienced some organisational challenges with our Diagnostics business unit, but the corrective action that we have put in place should lead to an improved performance in the second half.”

“I am pleased to report that the business is on track to complete the delivery of the productivity and eCommerce initiatives that we are implementing as part of our Investing for Growth strategy. We expect these investments to generate significant payback in the short and long-term, by reducing costs, increasing capacity and operating leverage, whilst also opening up new avenues of growth.”

“With our traditional second-half weighting and strong order book for the remainder of 2019, we are well positioned to deliver on our strategy, as we continue to transform Horizon from a scientifically-led business, into a fully commercial tools and services company with industrialised processes and customer-directed R&D.”

Analyst briefing

An analyst briefing will be held at 12:00pm BST on Monday 16 September 2019 at the offices of Numis, 10 Paternoster Sq., London, EC4M 7LT. There will be a simultaneous live conference call.

Conference call details:

  • Participant UK dial?in: 0800 376 7922
  • Participant US dial?in: 1 866 966 1396
  • International dial?in: +44 (0) 2071 928000
  • Participant code: 6674702

A live webcast of the meeting and presentation slides, will be available on the Group’s website:

https://www.horizondiscoveryplc.com/category/presentations-recordings/

For further information from Horizon Discovery Group plc, please contact:

Horizon Discovery Group plc
Terry Pizzie, Chief Executive Officer
Jayesh Pankhania, Chief Financial Officer
Jon Davies, Head of Investor Relations
Tel: +44 (0) 1223 655 580

Numis Securities Limited (Broker and NOMAD)
Freddie Barnfield / Tom Ballard / Duncan Monteith
Tel: +44 (0) 207 260 1000

Consilium Strategic Communications (UK Financial Media and Investor Relations)
Mary-Jane Elliott / Matthew Neal / Melissa Gardiner
Tel: +44 (0) 20 3709 5700
Email: horizon@consilium-comms.com

Westwicke, an ICR Company (US Investor Relations)
Stephanie Carrington
Tel. 646-277-1282
Email: horizondisovery@icrinc.com

About Horizon Discovery Group plc www.horizondiscovery.com

Horizon Discovery Group plc (LSE: HZD) ("Horizon") drives the application of gene editing and gene modulation within the global life science market – supporting scientists on the path from research to therapy.

Built upon more than a decade of experience in the engineering of cell lines, Horizon offers an unmatched portfolio of tools and services to help scientists gain a greater understanding of gene function, identify genetic drivers behind human disease, deliver biotherapeutics, cellular and gene therapies for precision medicine as well as develop and validate diagnostic workflows.

Horizon’s solutions enable almost any gene to be altered, or its function modulated, in human and other mammalian cell lines.

The Company’s customers include many of the world’s foremost academic institutes, global biopharmaceutical and biotechnology companies as well as clinical diagnostic laboratories. Insight into the challenges faced by these organizations enables Horizon to focus efforts on development of innovative solutions that not only differentiate the Company’s offering, but also fuel development of the next wave of precision medicines.

Horizon is headquartered in Cambridge, UK with offices in USA and Japan.  The Group is listed on the London Stock Exchange's AIM market under the ticker HZD.

CEO REVIEW

I am pleased to report a solid performance in the first half of the financial year with the Group as a whole performing in line with expectations. Reported revenues of £28.6m increased 13.9% on the prior year (HY18: £25.1m) representing growth of 8.8% on a constant currency basis1. Gross Margins increased by 5.3 percentage points to 68.5% (HY18: 63.2%) largely driven by a strong performance in our Bioproduction business unit.  Our adjusted EBITDA1 loss of £0.9m2 (HY18: £2.2m) is in line with our expectations as we continue to invest in our business with a focus on achieving growth and market share. We report a loss after tax2 of £5.3m for the period, representing an improvement over the prior period (HY18: £7.6m loss).

As we indicated in our FY18 results statement, from the start of this year we implemented a new Business Unit structure to allow the Group to better develop and target the product and service offerings increasingly required by our evolving markets.  As a result, we replaced the former reporting structure of Research Products, Applied Products and Services (reported as Products and Services at a Group level), with five market-aligned Business Units: Research Reagents, Screening, Bioproduction, Diagnostics and In Vivo. Each of these business units comprise a mix of products and services that are tailored to the specific needs of their respective customer segments.

The implementation of this new structure has resulted in some organisational changes within the business, some of which are still bedding down. However, I am pleased to report that the increased focus that it has delivered, through having dedicated Business Unit Managers and Product Managers, has largely delivered the expected results, with the exception of Diagnostics, where some organisational challenges led to a disappointing first half performance (see Performance by Business Unit)

This set of results is the first in which the Group has reported according to this new structure. Further details of the composition of these Business Units and their performance in the half year are set out below. In summary, revenue growth for the first six months was driven by a notably strong performance in Bioproduction (up 154.5% on the prior year equivalent) and Screening (up 38.7% on the prior year equivalent).

Research Reagents, which encompassed 58% (HY18: 59%) of Group revenues, grew by 11.5% in the period. We expect continued strong growth in the second half of the year, as this business unit benefits from the substantially increased capacity in Cell Line engineering achieved in the first half. 

In Vivo’s performance was down 3.8% on the prior year reflecting the continuing challenges the business is facing in its market.

Diagnostics was down 28.6% on the prior year due to organisational issues in this business unit.  These have been identified and the corrective action that we have put in place should lead to an improved performance in the second half.

Whilst we will henceforth report according to this new structure, for this period we have also provided commentary on the way we formerly reported, in order to help investors track performance in the first half of the financial year. Accordingly, Group Product revenue increased 14.6% to £22.8m (HY18: £19.9m); whilst Group Services revenue increased 11.5% to £5.8m (HY18: £5.2m).

Investing for Growth

This time last year, the Group announced its new “Investing for Growth” strategy to support our goal to become the ‘go-to’ provider of IP-rich cell engineering solutions and to establish leadership positions in key target markets. This has led us to prioritise the highest value, highest growth areas of our core markets, in particular CRISPR screening and reagents, cell engineering, bioproduction and   diagnostic reference standards.

To support this growth, we have committed £5m over an 18 month period to an investment program which is focussed on supporting growth across the Group and includes investments in automation to increase production capacity, in Laboratory Information Management Systems (LIMS) to improve data handling, in Business Intelligence to add customer and business insight, and in digitisation to enhance customer experience through our eCommerce channel. Alongside this, we are continuing to invest in commercially led, scientific innovation in order to stay at the forefront of emerging technologies and maintain our market-leading position.

We are now nine months into this programme and the work is still ongoing, but I am pleased to report that the goals we set ourselves in the first half of the year have all been achieved.  As planned, by re-engineering our existing process we have successfully delivered the expected tripling of capacity in Cell Line Engineering with no additional headcount. We expect to increase this further through the addition of automation by the end of the first quarter of 2020, which will result in a five-fold increase in capacity compared to the start of 2019. The redevelopment of the Group’s web and e-commerce project is also progressing to plan and is on track for completion in October 2019. This will consolidate what are currently two separate web sites (former Horizon and Dharmacon) into a single platform that will provide an enhanced customer experience and opportunities for cross-selling across the Group’s entire portfolio.

We expect these investments to generate significant payback in the short and long-term, by reducing costs, increasing capacity and operating leverage, whilst also opening up new avenues of growth.

Performance by Business Unit

The metrics included below are all reported measures unless otherwise stated.  

Research Reagents

  • Revenue of £16.5m up 11.5% on the prior year (HY18: £14.8m)
  • On a constant currency basis Revenue of £15.8m up 6.8%

The Research Reagents business unit comprises the tools (both products and services) that allow scientists in both academia and drug discovery to better understand disease mechanisms, and to identify the drivers behind disease via both permanent and transient changes in gene expression. It includes Horizon’s extensive catalogue of off-the-shelf (OTS) cell models (formerly classified under Research Products) and bespoke cell engineering services (formerly classified under Services) and Dharmacon’s custom-made and OTS gene modification (RNAi) and gene editing (CRISPR) reagents (formerly categorised under Research Products) which are delivered from the Group’s manufacturing and global logistics centre in Boulder, Colorado.

Horizon’s main customers for this revenue stream are academic research labs and early-stage biopharmaceutical companies, which are leveraging Dharmacon’s leadership position in RNAi/siRNA and CRISPR reagents to perform gene modulation and editing. Sales are typically high volume and transactional in nature, captured primarily through the Group’s website, with some sold via field sales.  

Horizon’s OTS cell models are sold from the Group’s website. Off-the shelf models are available for immediate delivery, with an express service that delivers cell models selected from a predefined menu. Horizon’s bespoke cell line engineering service is available to those customers with highly specific requirements and is predominantly sold to biotech and biopharmaceutical companies through the Group’s field sales and Key Accounts sales organisation.

Research Reagents delivered sales of £16.5m in HY19, up 11.5% on the prior year, with the Group benefiting from increased cross-selling and continuing recovery in the former Dharmacon business.  This accounted for 58% of the Group’s revenues and delivered solid growth during the period.

We expect the overall growth rate of Research Reagents to increase in the second half, as the business unit benefits from the three-fold increase in cell line engineering capacity delivered in H1 (through re-engineering existing processes) with automation bringing this up to a five-fold increase by the end of the first quarter of 2020. 

Since the Group’s inception, cell line engineering has been a core capability of Horizon and is also an enabler for other business units (e.g. Diagnostics and Screening).  The market is currently fragmented with no dominant players and our ambition is to significantly grow revenues over the next 18-24 months.  The increase in capacity is key to this, as it will enable us to decrease our manufacturing costs and extend our offering, with more compelling solutions on both price and turnaround times. 

This will have two main effects.  Firstly, it will significantly increase our addressable market, as we will now have a more competitive offering and secondly, the increased project volumes will allow us to increase operational leverage across other business units, for example Diagnostics.

 Screening (including leveraged R&D)

  • Revenue of £4.3m up 38.7% on the prior year (HY18: £3.1m)
  • On a constant currency basis Revenue of £4.1m up 32.3%

The Screening business unit comprises tools and services that address major challenges in drug development, including Horizon’s CRISPR Screening and high throughput compound screening (both formerly categorised under Services) and Dharmacon’s CRISPR and RNAi libraries (formerly categorised under Research Products). Customers for this revenue stream are mid-to-large biotech and biopharmaceutical companies, which are targeted by the Group’s field sales and Key Accounts team and have the choice of buying either a fully outsourced service or just the tools they need (CRISPR libraries) to do their own screening in-house.

Horizon has a market-leading position in this arena with more than 500 CRISPR screens completed and ongoing, including with 8 out of the top 20 global biopharmaceutical companies. In the early part of 2019, we announced the launch of the world’s first primary human T-Cell CRISPR screening service, underlining our leading position in this important developing market.

In addition to this extensive know-how and track record, Horizon’s ability to leverage Dharmacon’s manufacturing expertise is a major differentiator, as it means that we do not need to source CRISPR reagents from other suppliers. The ability to package CRISPR reagents into libraries for sale to organisations seeking to do their own CRISPR screening is also a major factor in helping us to engage with biopharmaceutical companies on both a tool supply and outsourcing basis.

Screening delivered revenues of £4.3m for the period (HY18: £3.1m), an increase of 38.7% on the prior year.  Much of this growth has been driven by an increase in the number of highly complex large-scale screens for major biopharmaceutical companies. Demand continues to be very strong in the second half. We have received an order for £850k – the largest single order to date and we will begin to see revenue from this contract in H2 2019. Given the complexity and timescales of some of these major projects, there can be a long time period between initiation of a project and full revenue recognition. We are therefore evaluating the development of simpler, standardised screens that can provide run-rate business alongside these major projects, in order to iron-out some of the lumpiness in the revenues.

Bioproduction

  • Reported revenue of £2.8m up 154.5% on the prior year (HY18: £1.1m)
  • On a constant currency basis Revenue of £2.7m up 145.5%

The Bioproduction business unit was formerly categorised under Applied Products. The business unit’s offering is a Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cell line which has been modified by gene editing to improve the speed and efficacy of production of biologic drugs. The cell line is available off-the-shelf as a product, which is sold under license, with bespoke CHO cell line development also available. The customers for this cell line are biotech, biopharmaceutical and contract manufacture organisations globally, which are served by Horizon’s Key Account Partner sales team.

Biologics have revolutionised the treatment of many diseases and now account for six out of the top 10 ‘blockbuster’ drugs. CHO cells are the predominant system used in the biologics manufacturing processes due to their ability to produce complex biologics at scale and their track record of regulatory approval.

There is strong demand from companies pursuing biologic drugs and looking for cost-effective ways to commence biomanufacturing. However, high entry costs and restrictive licensing conditions can make it difficult to gain access to CHO cells suitable for manufacturing biologics. Horizon is differentiated in this market by offering a high-quality gene edited, proprietary cell line, with a clear IP position, freedom to operate and a disruptive, predictable pricing model.

Our cell lines have now been validated by five successful Investigational New Drug (IND) filings by customers (three in the USA and two in China) which means the Group’s market access and credentials are now well established. The growing acceptance in the market has meant that during H1, an increasing number of customers have proceeded directly to full commercial licenses without going through an initial evaluation period, significantly shortening the sales cycle. 

We remain optimistic for revenue growth during the second half, but mindful of the fact that the sales of these high value contracts tend to be lumpy in nature and that the strong performance reported at the end of FY18, in which two new commercial licences in excess of £1m were signed, has set a high bar for a year-on-year comparison.

Diagnostics

  • Revenue of £2.5m down 28.6% on the prior year (HY18: £3.5m)
  • On a constant currency basis Revenue of £2.4m down 31.4%

The Diagnostics business unit comprises gene-edited cell lines that have been developed to mimic human genetic diseases (especially cancer). These standards are used to check the performance of diagnostic tests and to validate new diagnostic tests. The business unit was formerly categorised as Molecular Diagnostics under Applied Products.

Horizon is a leading innovator of cell line-derived reference standards and provides a source of genetically defined, quantitative, sustainable and independent third-party reference material, critical to the validation and routine performance monitoring of assays. 

The business unit’s offering includes off-the-shelf cell-based reference standards, which are typically sold through the Group’s eCommerce platform, and both tailored and bespoke reference standards that are developed to customers’ specific requirements and predominantly sold via the Group’s field sales team. The customers for these reference standards include academic laboratories, drug discovery companies and clinical laboratories (including clinical R&D).

The key drivers for these tools are the need for fast, minimally invasive, methods for detection of disease (as opposed to patient derived biopsies) against a regulatory backdrop for increased standardisation to remove subjectivity. 

Performance in the first half of the year has been disappointing, the root cause of which was internal organisational issues rather than external market factors. We have now implemented a number of changes in this business unit and are confident that these will lead to an improved performance in the second half.

In Vivo

  • Revenue of £2.5m down 3.8% on the prior year (HY18: £2.6m)
  • On a constant currency basis Revenue of £2.3m down 11.5%

The In Vivo Business Unit provides genetically engineered rat and mice models from its premises in Boyertown, Pennsylvania and St Louis, Missouri, USA. In Vivo’s animal models feature specific gene deletions, insertions, repressions and modifications, and are used as pre-clinical models for human genetic disease for drug discovery. They are available as both OTS models and bespoke models developed to customers’ specific requirements. Customers include academic researchers and drug discovery and development companies, who are served by a dedicated specialist In Vivo sales team.

In our FY2018 results statement issued in April 2019, we highlighted that In Vivo was facing some challenging market headwinds and that we had reset our expectations for the growth of the business.  Against this backdrop, it is pleasing that revenues in the period were broadly in line with the previous year.

There are a number of contributing factors for these market challenges, including a decreasing demand for custom animal models and pricing pressure. Additionally, In Vivo’s market is dominated by a handful of very large dedicated incumbents and gene editing is not a disruptive force in this market, which means it will be challenging for the Group to establish a market leading position in this segment. We are therefore continuing to monitor the situation carefully to determine the best course of action for this business.

Maintaining market leadership

Horizon is committed to investing in partnerships and high-value technologies that maintain the Group’s market leadership positions. 

In October 2018, we announced a partnership with Celyad (Euronext Brussels and Paris, and Nasdaq: CYAD) a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of CAR-T cell-based therapies, which had licensed the Horizon’s novel shRNA technology to generate its second non-gene-edited allogeneic platform.

Post period end, in early July 2019, Celyad secured FDA Acceptance of an Investigational New Drug (IND) application for CYAD-02, the autologous NKG2D based CAR-T cell therapy that deploys Horizon’s optimised SMARTvector™ shRNA technology. The Phase 1 trial with initiation planned for early 2020, will be the first CAR-T cell therapy to employ the SMARTvector™ platform. Horizon will receive a milestone payment for the successful IND filing.

In January 2019, Horizon signed a strategic partnership with Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey (US), to develop and commercialise base editing, a novel technology platform that has the potential to provide more accurate gene editing and fewer unintended genomic changes than currently available gene editing methodologies.

As part of the agreement, Horizon has an option to exclusively license the base editing technology for use in all therapeutic applications. During the first half of the year, Horizon has been working through the one-year evaluation phase of the technology prior to taking the full licence. Data collated so far is consistent with expectations and we expect to complete our evaluation in the second half of 2019.

Also, in January, we announced the launch of the world’s first primary human T-Cell CRISPR screening service to meet the requirements of immunology-based research in drug discovery.

In the past, the use of CRISPR screens in primary T lymphocytes has proved to be challenging, owing to complex issues around the introduction of the screening components and Cas9 in particular. Horizon has adapted its established CRISPRko (knockout) platform to address these issues enabling us to deliver a robust screening platform, which allows customers working in the immuno-oncology space to find gene targets and potential therapeutic avenues in primary cells (T lymphocytes freshly isolated from the body) rather than having to work through surrogate cell lines.

This is significant because we believe that the therapeutic development pipeline for all diseases will move away from screening in immortalised (cancer) cell lines and move towards screens in primary cells, as they more closely represent real patients. 

In order to capitalise on this market shift, Horizon has leveraged its proprietary manufacturing expertise to make guide RNAs as a long single strand, rather than as two separate components (CRISPR RNA (crRNA) and tracrRNA) which is how they are usually supplied.

There is a growing body of research that indicates that such synthetic single guide RNA strands are able to edit genes in primary cells without any detectable changes elsewhere in the genome. The research also indicates that synthetic single guide RNAs are more effective in primary cells, suggesting that screens might work better in primary cells with a synthetic single guide library.

Horizon’s work during the first half of the year should lead to the launch of its first pooled synthetic single guide library in Q4 2019, which will include subset libraries of our well established druggable genome library. The whole genome library will be complete later in 2020.

Summary and outlook 2019

The market opportunity for gene editing and gene modulation is substantial and growing rapidly. Horizon is at the forefront of this innovation wave and our products and services are powering three key areas in the therapeutics ecosystem:

  • Research: the demand for life science tools designed to understand the genetic basis of disease;
  • Development: the need to improve the speed and reduce the costs of drug development and associated companion diagnostics; and
  • Therapy: providing the tools to enable new therapeutic approaches, including personalised medicines (cell and gene therapies) and immuno-oncology

Scientific interest in these fields continues to accelerate as gene editing and gene modulation become embedded in basic research and drug discovery programmes. The Group’s core competence in cell-line engineering (which underpins all of our business units) enables us to create a unique and high value portfolio of tools and services, which combined with our commercial reach, provides the basis for sustainable competitive advantage and strong prospects for growth.

In line with previous years, we anticipate a strong second half weighting to our performance. With an already strong order book for the second half of 2019, the Board expects FY19 revenues to be in-line with market expectations and to maintain a positive adjusted EBITDA.

On 23 June 2016, the UK held a referendum on continuing membership of the EU, the outcome of which was a decision for the UK to leave the EU (Brexit). Unless and until the Brexit negotiation and parliamentary-ratification processes are complete, it is difficult to anticipate the potential impact on the Group’s performance.

The Group has responded by engaging proactively with key external stakeholders and establishing a cross-functional team to understand, assess, plan and implement operational actions that may be required. The Group has adopted a base case planning assumption of a hard Brexit/no deal. The Board reviews the potential impact of Brexit regularly.

Terry Pizzie
Chief Executive Officer

16 September 2019

FINANCIAL REVIEW

A solid revenue performance during HY19 of £28.6m (HY18: £25.1m), represents growth of 13.9% against the equivalent prior period, being in line with market expectations. Revenue growth is 8.8% on a constant currency basis1 and consistent with prior years we expect revenues to be second half weighted.

Reported gross margins for HY19 were 68.5% (HY18: 63.2%), which benefitted from an increasing proportion of Bioproduction and screening revenues.

Our reported adjusted EBITDA1 loss improved to £0.9m2 (HY18: £2.2m loss). This included the benefit of £1.3m due to the implementation of IFRS 16 Leases. On a like for like basis, the adjusted EBITDA1 loss was £2.2m.

Exceptional items for the period totalled £0.1m (HY18: £1.6m) relating to the departure of Richard Vellacott as Chief Financial Officer.

We report a loss after tax2 of £5.3m for the period, representing an improvement over the prior period (HY18: £7.6m loss) substantially due to the implementation of IFRS 16 Leases and an increase in the tax credit.

Management consider the following as additional alternative performance measures to supplement statutory measures of performance as they provide additional insight. Constant currency is the measured current year revenues based on the prevailing foreign exchange rates from the prior year.

Adjusted EBITDA

 
HY
2019
 £m
HY
2018
£m
Operating loss(5.7)(7.8)
Amortisation and depreciation4.74.0
EBITDA(1.0)(3.8)
Exceptional items (note 3)0.11.6
Adjusted EBITDA(0.9)(2.2)

Exceptional items
Exceptional items, due to their size, nature or the expected infrequency of the events giving rise to them, are presented separately on the face of the income statement.

The reported income statement for HY19 incorporates the modified retrospective adoption of IFRS 16 (refer to Notes 1 and 10 to the Financial Statements). The impact on the HY2019 alternative performance measure is depicted below:

Adjusted EBITDA
Impact of adopting IFRS 16
HY2019
 Prior to IFRS16
 £m
IFRS 16
Impact
£m
As Reported HY2019
£m
Operating loss(6.0)0.3(5.7)
Amortisation and depreciation3.71.04.7
EBITDA(2.3)1.3(1.0)
Exceptional items (note 3)0.1 0.1
Adjusted EBITDA(2.2)1.3(0.9)


Balance Sheet
Impact of adopting IFRS 16
HY2019
 Prior impact IFRS16
 £m
IFRS 16
Impact
£m
As Reported HY2019
£m
Right of use assets-11.211.2
Trade and other payables(10.1)0.6(9.5)
Current lease liabilities-(3.0)(3.0)
Non-current lease liabilities-(11.3)(11.3)

Operating costs

Total operating expenses (excluding exceptional items) for the period are £25.2m (HY18: £22.1m). This is in line with expectations as we invest in our people and infrastructure in order to deliver our ambitious strategic objectives.

Balance sheet

Overall net assets of the Group were £136.8m at the end of the period (31 December 2018: £143.3m). Group working capital (net current assets less cash) is £6.9m (31 December 2018: £10.8m), after allowing for the £2.4m impact of IFRS 16 to current liabilities.

The Group remains well funded with cash resources of £24.8m (31 December 2018: £26.7m). This funding provides a robust position to support our investment in key strategic projects such as the new eCommerce platform which will be launched later this year.

Current trading and outlook

We anticipate a stronger second half performance in line with prior years, underpinned by a robust order book, the launch of our eCommerce platform and the three-fold increase in capacity in Cell Line engineering.

Independent review report to Horizon Discovery Group plc

We have been engaged by the company to review the condensed set of financial statements in the half-yearly financial report for the six months ended 30 June 2019 which comprises the consolidated income statement, the consolidated balance sheet, the consolidated statement of changes in equity, the consolidated cash flow statement and related notes 1 to 10. We have read the other information contained in the half-yearly financial report and considered whether it contains any apparent misstatements or material inconsistencies with the information in the condensed set of financial statements.

This report is made solely to the company in accordance with International Standard on Review Engagements (UK and Ireland) 2410 “Review of Interim Financial Information Performed by the Independent Auditor of the Entity” issued by the Financial Reporting Council. Our work has been undertaken so that we might state to the company those matters we are required to state to it in an independent review report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the company, for our review work, for this report, or for the conclusions we have formed.

Directors’ responsibilities

The half-yearly financial report is the responsibility of, and has been approved by, the directors. The directors are responsible for preparing the half-yearly financial report in accordance with the AIM Rules of the London Stock Exchange.

As disclosed in note 1, the annual financial statements of the Group are prepared in accordance with IFRSs as adopted by the European Union. The condensed set of financial statements included in this half-yearly financial report has been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies the Group intends to use in preparing its next annual financial statements.

Our responsibility

Our responsibility is to express to the Company a conclusion on the condensed set of financial statements in the half-yearly financial report based on our review.

Scope of review

We conducted our review in accordance with International Standard on Review Engagements (UK and Ireland) 2410 “Review of Interim Financial Information Performed by the Independent Auditor of the Entity” issued by the Financial Reporting Council for use in the United Kingdom. A review of interim financial information consists of making inquiries, primarily of persons responsible for financial and accounting matters, and applying analytical and other review procedures. A review is substantially less in scope than an audit conducted in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) and consequently does not enable us to obtain assurance that we would become aware of all significant matters that might be identified in an audit. Accordingly, we do not express an audit opinion.

Conclusion

Based on our review, nothing has come to our attention that causes us to believe that the condensed set of financial statements in the half-yearly financial report for the six months ended 30 June 2019 is not prepared, in all material respects, in accordance with accounting policies the Group intends to use in preparing its next annual financial statements and the AIM Rules of the London Stock Exchange.

Deloitte LLP

Statutory Auditor

Cambridge, UK

13 September 2019


HORIZON DISCOVERY GROUP PLC

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED INCOME STATEMENT
Six months ended 30 June 2019

 









 Unaudited Six months ended 30 June 2019
£`000
Unaudited Six months ended 30 June 2018
£`000
Audited
Year ended 31 December 2018
£`000
 Note    
REVENUE 2 28,55425,11258,733
      
Cost of sales  (9,002)(9,241)(19,205)
      
Gross profit  19,55215,87139,528
      
Other operating income2 1,0142692,204
Sales, marketing and distribution costs  (7,065)(5,724)(13,003)
Research and development costs  (7,864)(7,363)(15,241)
Corporate and administrative expenses  (10,892)(9,159)(20,737)
Share of results of joint ventures  (313)(137)(299)
Exceptional items3 (143)(1,583)(33,185)
      
OPERATING LOSS   (5,711)(7,826)(40,733)
      
Investment income2 406190
Finance costs  (463)(3)(11)
      
LOSS BEFORE TAX   (6,134)(7,768)(40,654)
Taxation  8841494,833
      
LOSS FOR THE PERIOD  (5,250)(7,619)(35,821)
      
LOSS PER SHARE
Basic and diluted (pence)
 

4
  

(3.5p)
 

(5.1p)
 

(23.9p)
      



HORIZON DISCOVERY GROUP PLC

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF OTHER COMPREHENSIVE INCOME
Six months ended 30 June 2019

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 Unaudited Six months ended 30 June 2019
£`000
Unaudited Six months ended 30 June 2018
£`000
Audited
Year ended 31 December 2018
£`000
LOSS FOR THE PERIOD  (5,250)(7,619)(35,821)
      
Items that may be reclassified subsequently to profit or loss:     
Exchange differences on translation of foreign operations  4822,9116,936
Tax on items that may be reclassified subsequently to profit or loss    --314
     
Other comprehensive income for the period net of tax   4822,9117,250
      
TOTAL COMPREHENSIVE INCOME FOR THE PERIOD  (4,768)(4,708)(28,571)
      
Total comprehensive income attributable to:     
Owners of the Company  (4,768)
Related companies:Horizon Discovery
Copyright 2019 Nasdaq / GlobeNewswire Back to overview list
to the top ↑