Manchester’s Yourgene lifts revenue expectations

Manchester-based molecular diagnostics firm Yourgene Health plc said on Monday it expects to report full year revenues of at least £37 million, significantly above current market expectations of £29 million amid a strong performance by the firm in COVID-19 testing.

In a trading update for its current financial year ending March 31, 2022, Yourgene said: “The strong trading performance seen in the first half of the year has continued into the second half.

“Yourgene’s high throughput COVID-19 testing laboratory in Citylabs 1.0, Manchester, has been deployed heavily over the winter season to assist in the UK’s response to the new wave of infections caused by the omicron variant.

“In addition, the company’s new COVID sequencing service has launched and was awarded a contract by the UK Health Security Agency.

“This service has made a strong contribution and Yourgene is now scaling up this service for additional volume.

Having upgraded guidance in October 2021 and again in December 2021, the board believes that full year revenues and adjusted EBITDA will exceed already upgraded market expectations. 

“The company has already recorded year to date revenues sufficient to meet existing market expectations for the full year and expects, with a further strong contribution in the final quarter, to report full year revenues of at least £37m, significantly above current market expectations of £29m.

“Adjusted EBITDA margins are expected to be at least 10% which will deliver a substantial positive swing of over £5.5m from the previous year’s position.”

Yourgene CEO Lyn Rees said: “The continued strong performance in COVID-19 testing is a testament to our team’s ability to mobilise our core lab services quickly and scale resources to meet this urgent need.

“Whilst we are seeing substantial growth in COVID-19 testing, our long-term strategy remains focused on building a diverse offering across both Genomic Technologies and Genomic Services that apply our core competencies and capacity into other areas where molecular diagnostics can positively impact people’s lives.”

Yourgene primarily develops, manufactures and commercialises molecular diagnostic solutions for reproductive health, precision medicine and infectious diseases.

The group’s flagship products include non-invasive prenatal tests (NIPT) for Down’s Syndrome and other genetic disorders, Cystic Fibrosis screening tests, invasive rapid aneuploidy tests, and a recent extension into the oncology space with DPYD genotyping.