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(Sharecast News) - Shares in AIM-listed RUA Life Sciences tumbled on Monday after the medical devices group reported weaker-than-expected trading at its French subsidiary Abiss, despite forecasting higher annual revenues and a return to profitability.
The company expects revenues of approximately £5.5m for the year ended 30 September, up around 8% from £5.1m in the comparable previous period.
Pre-tax profit is expected to reach approximately £4.7m, although this largely reflects a one-off accounting gain of £4.8m following the deconsolidation of RUA Structural Heart. Excluding exceptional items, adjusted EBITDA is expected to be positive at around £300,000.
However, Abiss generated revenues of £1.4m, falling short of its £1.9m target, and recorded a pre-tax loss of approximately £300,000, as a result of reduced orders from a major customer seeking to lower its inventory holdings.
Elsewhere, RUA's contract development and manufacturing operations (CDMO) generated revenues of £2.8m, comprising £2.4m from commercial manufacturing and £400,000 from design activities. The Biomaterials division delivered income of £1m, approximately 60% ahead of budget.
The restructuring of its Structural Heart business was completed during the period, with the arm effectively spun out, which allowed it to progress with external funding without ongoing financial support from the parent company.
"The past year has seen further strengthening of the group with the spin-out of RUA Structural Heart, planning for the consolidation of the CDMO business with strong revenue growth visibility and the strategy developed for ABISS and its transformation into a product company," said boss Bill Brown.
"I personally consider Biomaterials and the CDMO as the core growth story and RUA Structural Heart as an IP-backed investment for the group to capitalise on in the future. We are excited to continue on the strategic pathway identified over the past two years."
The group's cash balance stood at approximately £2.5m at the end of September, down from £3.2m a year earlier.
RUA's stock was down nearly 15% at 21.7p by 1152 GMT.
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