Interim report  January-September 2018

Biotage continues to grow with increased profitability

Third quarter, July - September 2018

• Net sales amounted to 232.2 MSEK (177.7), which is an increase by 30.7 percent compared to the corresponding quarter last year. At comparable exchange rates[1] and adjusted for acquisitions sales increased by 9.9 percent.
• Operating profit increased by 54.3 percent to 45.1 MSEK (29.3).
• Result after tax increased by 41.4 percent to 44.0 MSEK (31.1).
• Earnings per share increased to 0.68 SEK (0.48) before and after dilution.
• The cash flow from operating activities improved to 50.7 MSEK (30.5).
• Net cash[1] at September 30 was 24.7 MSEK (119.6). Cash and cash equivalents amounted to 134.1 MSEK (119.6). Interest-bearing liabilities at the end of the period amounted to 109.4 MSEK (-) relating to loans under a credit facility taken out in connection with the acquisition of Horizon Technology Inc.

Nine months, January - September 2018

• Net sales amounted to 676.3 MSEK (559.3), which is an increase by 20.9 percent compared to the corresponding period last year. At comparable exchange rates[1] and adjusted for acquisitions net sales increased by 8.5 percent.
• Operating profit increased by 34.9 percent to 136.7 MSEK (101.4).
• Result after tax increased by 34.8 percent to 140.3 MSEK (104.1).
• Earnings per share increased to 2.17 SEK (1.61) before and after dilution.
• The cash flow from operating activities amounted to 103.4 MSEK (102.8).
• The acquisition of Horizon Technology Inc. was completed on January 16.
• Dividends to the shareholders were paid to the amount of 90.6 MSEK (80.9) in the month of May.

[1] See definition on pp. 18-19

Comments by CEO Torben Jörgensen

Biotage continues to grow with increasing profitability and surpasses the financial targets for the quarter as well as for the nine-month period. The business is growing in the regions where we have direct sales. The biggest percentage sales increases are in Asia, which is especially encouraging in view of the direct establishments that Biotage has recently undertaken in this region. Our local head of the organization in India is in place since August and we look forward with excitement to the development of our operations in this growing market.

We are seeing a continued positive development of Biotage’s latest acquisition, Horizon Technology Inc. Profitability as well as sales are developing in the right direction. The acquisition strengthens our possibilities to develop our product offering in analytical chemistry in the areas of environment and food, areas where we see great opportunities for further expansion. During the quarter an analysis method for food using one of Biotage’s products was approved in South Korea as the official method for analysis of mycotoxins (mould toxins). Traditionally Biotage’s sales in Asia have mainly concerned organic chemistry products. Biotage will now invest more in Asia with the ambition to increase analytical chemistry sales. The investments will be made in the form of increased staff and investments in our own analytical labs to enable us to rapidly assist our customers in the challenges they are facing.

Biotage’s single biggest product area is purification in organic chemistry, where the flash system Isolera™ accounts for the largest part of the sales together with the Biotage® SNAP consumables for flash purification. During the period intensive preparations have been in progress for the launch of the replacements for these products. On October 1 the commercial launch of the new technology platforms, the flash system Biotage® Selekt and the Biotage® Sfär consumables. We believe that these new products will further consolidate Biotage’s already strong position and further develop the market. Biotage® Selekt and Biotage® Sfär enable more efficient separation with higher quality and reduced environmental impact due to lower consumption of solvents.

We are seeing an increased interest in our products from the medical cannabis industry, especially in the US, where this industry is developing rapidly. Also these industries face challenges, with legislation concerning maximum levels of residue from pesticides in the final product. Evaluations of Biotage’s products for both analysis and purification in this industry are currently in progress and we have already sold a number of our somewhat bigger systems for flash purification for use in small scale production.

The split of sales between systems and aftermarket products is still not where we wish it to be. In the nine-month period the split is 50/50 between systems and consumables. The main reason for the increased share of system sales is the growth in China, but also successes in peptide synthesis, especially in Australia.

Together with my organization I am looking forward to further develop Biotage’s operations towards the new financial targets communicated by the board of directors in a press release on November 5; to achieve an organic sales growth of 8 percent and an operating profit (EBIT) of 20 percent on average on a rolling three-year basis.

Coming financial reports

The year-end report for 2018 will be issued on February 7, 2019.
The Annual General Meeting 2019 will be held on April 24, 2019.
The interim report for the first quarter 2019 will be published on April 24, 2019.
The interim report for the second quarter 2019 will be published on July 16, 2019
The interim report for the third quarter 2019 will be published November 5, 2019.
The year-end report for 2019 will be published on February 7, 2020.
The Annual Report for 2018 is planned to be made public in week 14 2019.
All reports are available at Biotage’s website from the above dates.
   
      
Uppsala November 6, 2018
    
   
Torben Jörgensen
President and CEO
   
   
For further information, please contact:
Torben Jörgensen, President and CEO, phone: +46 707 49 05 84
Erika Söderberg Johnson, CFO, phone: +46 707 20 48 20
     
    
This information is information that Biotage AB (publ) is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact persons set out above, at 08.30 CET on November 6, 2018.

About Biotage
Biotage offers efficient separation technologies from analysis to industrial scale and high quality solutions for analytical chemistry from research to commercial analysis laboratories. Biotage’s products are used by government authorities, academic institutions, contract research and contract manufacturing organizations, pharmaceutical and food companies, among others. The company is headquartered in Uppsala and has offices in the US, UK, China, Japan, South Korea and India. Biotage has approx. 410 employees and had sales of 748 MSEK in 2017. Biotage is listed on NASDAQ Stockholm. Website: www.biotage.com

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