Aptamer Group Plc: Turner Pope

aptamer GROUP (APTA) Follow | APTA

Aptamer has published its unaudited first half results to 31 December 2023 (the ‘Period’). Confirming core detail provided in its Half Year Trading Update released on 5 February 2024, the financials are very much in line with expectations, while the Board continues to report strong technical delivery leading to growing commercial traction. Presently, the Group has £1.3m of signed deals being processed through its laboratories along with c.£2.9m of pipeline opportunities considered to be at an advanced stage. Somewhat further out, amongst other opportunities, two longer-term deals with big pharma offer potential to crystalise into ongoing strategic relationships with c.£6m of value. The principal issue of course remains one of timing. Delivery of a customer’s target materials required for a production run, for example, can sometimes delay revenue recognition by a matter of months. The extent of high-level interaction across a wide range of industry leaders through to smaller sector innovators, nevertheless suggests it is not a case of ‘if’ but ‘when’ more sizeable uptake of its highly specialised services gets underway. In this respect, it is understood that just one of the larger big pharma contracts or novel applications in fast moving consumer goods (‘FMCG’) currently being progressed could be transformative (in terms of high volume/breakthrough licensing adoption) for the Group both financially and in terms of reputation. Moreover, having completed the scaling back of its cost base during the first half to around £0.3m/month, while bolstering its end-January 2024 cash position to £2.1m following receipt of a £0.5m tax credit, Aptamer’s forward runway is presently sufficient to carry it comfortably into the new financial year.

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