hVIVO PLC hiked full-year guidance and said it intends to start paying a dividend, as underlying profits more than doubled in the first half of the year on revenues that increased 52%.
The outlook for the business is “extremely positive”, said chief executive Yamin Khan, with the human challenge clinical trials specialist having late last month set out plans to move to a larger trial facility funded by a number of existing clients.
The first six months of 2023 saw revenue grow 52% to £27.3 million and underlying profits (EBITDA) jumped 126% to £5.2 million as EBITDA margin widened to 19.1% from 12.6%.
For the full year, hVIVO hiked its guidance to £55 million (excluding other income) and for EBITDA margin of roughly 19%.
With net cash swelling to £31.3 million at the half year stage and the move to the new state-of-the-art facility, on track to open in the first half of 2024 with only a small cash contribution from the company, the board intends to pay a “nominal annual dividend going forward”, for which more details will be announced at the time of its full-year results.
Khan hailed the strong growth in the first half and the “progress towards our goal of establishing a long-term sustainable growth model.
“The increasing number of trials, as well as the growing volunteer cohorts and expanding use cases, highlights that the human challenge market is experiencing a strong growth trend that we strongly believe will continue over the long term. The outlook for the business is extremely positive, as our new state-of-the-art facility sets us up to accelerate our growth over the long term.”
The contracted order book increased 11% to £78 million as at the end of June, which was said to be diversified across multiple clients, challenge agents and geographies.