RUA Life Sciences reported increased sales growth in a full-year trading update on Friday, amid recovery from Covid-19 disruption and advances in its business processes and management to minimise the risk of a further delay to the regulatory approval of RUA Vascular’s graft range.
The AIM-traded firm said it expected to have generated consolidated unaudited revenues of £1.63m in the 12 months ended 31 March, up 6% year-on-year.
Unaudited research and development spend was expected to total £0.89m – an increase of £0.35m over the preceding year, demonstrating continued investment in this area.
Overall, its loss before tax was expected to have widened to £2.36m from £1.59m, resulting from a combination of increased research and development activities and further investment in the infrastructure to support future growth.
The company’s balance sheet was expected to show a cash balance at the end of the year of £2.96m, down from £6.29m, having invested more than £0.5m in capital equipment during the year.
RUA said the equipment included heart valve testing equipment, graft manufacturing scale-up equipment, and a new factory unit to accommodate the high-output cleanroom facility to support scale-up manufacturing of RUA Vascular’s graft range and associated support functions.
The new facility was set to be commissioned in 2023.
“We continue on our journey to develop the scale and expertise required of a fully-fledged medical device manufacturer, that will allow us to deliver on our ambitious plans,” said group managing director Caroline Stretton.
“Our strengthened business strategy will maximise contribution from new product pipelines and positions the group well for sustainable and profitable growth.”
At 1026 BST, shares in RUA Life Sciences were down 14.19% at 39.9p.
Reporting by Josh White at Sharecast.com.
