Investors

OptiBiotix Health plc (AIM: OPTI), a life sciences business developing compounds to tackle obesity, high cholesterol, diabetes and skin care announces its audited results for the 12 months ended 31 December 2021. 

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Highlights

Financial

• Full year revenue of £2.2m a 45.3% increase on 2020 (£1.5m)
• A 27.7% increase in gross profit from £879K (2020) to £1.1m (2021)
• The Probiotic business increased sales by 34.0% to £1.1m (2020: £0.8m) with underlying year-on-year product sales (excluding a £250K milestone) increasing by 92.6%
• The Prebiotic business increased sales by 59.3% to £1.1m (2020: £0.6m), with underlying sales (excluding milestone fees) growing by 122%
• Both Probiotic and Prebiotic trading businesses profitable at EBITDA level, generating EBITDAs of £179K and £13K respectively
• A substantial increase in the value of the Group’s holding in SkinBioTherapeutics plc (‘SBTX’) from £8.9m (2020) to £13.7m as of 31 December 2021. The increase in the value of this investment resulting in a Group net profit for the year of £6.3m (2020: £5.8m)
• Total cash on the balance sheet at the year-end increased by 122% to £2m (2020: £0.9m) 

Commercial

• René Kamminga appointed as Chief Executive Officer of our prebiotic business as part of a long-planned strategy to appoint experienced industry commercial leaders to run each part of the business
• The signing of an agreement and launch of LeanBiome® in The Hut Groups (THG) Myprotein product range extending our reach in the sports nutrition market
• The signing of agreements with large national partners, Apollo Hospitals in India and Nahdi Medical in Saudi Arabia
• Launch by Arrotex Pharmaceuticals, Australia’s largest private pharmaceutical company, of a Very Low Calorie Diet (VLCD) weight management product containing SlimBiome®
• Expansion of Holland & Barrett SlimExpert® own brand range weight management product range containing SlimBiome® from three to eight products
• SlimBiome® winning best weight management product in the USA (Nutrition Industry Executive Award)

Regulatory and Scientific

• Approval of SlimBiome® as a licensed product with health claims for weight management by Health Canada
• The achievement of British Retail Consortium accreditation, confirming our compliance with the Global Food Safety Initiative (‘GFSI’) benchmark. This certification is one of the leading international food safety standards, accepted by most large retailers and their suppliers
• The Company has made significant progress in 2021 with the manufacture of its SweetBiotix® and microbiome modulators

Post period end

• Publication of a human study in a peer reviewed scientific journal showing LP_LDL® can achieve similar reductions in total cholesterol and LDL (bad cholesterol) to statins, without side effects
• Flotation of ProBiotix Health plc on the AQSE Growth Market in March 2022 with a distribution of approximately 0.55 ProBiotix shares for every OptiBiotix ordinary share held at close of business on 25 March 2022
• New key appointments of Zac Sniderman as Business Development & Sales Director in North America, and Shiraz Butt as E-Commerce Director reflecting a focus on the US market and direct to consumer sales
• Appointment of Steen Andersen as CEO of ProBiotix Health plc

Stephen O’Hara, CEO of OptiBiotix, commented: “The Company has achieved a second year of strong sales growth with a 45% increase in revenues, a 27.7% increase in gross profit, both ProBiotic and PreBiotic business’s EBITDA profitable, and a Group net profit of £6.3m (including the increase in the Group’s investment in SBTX). 

“With our products winning awards in several jurisdictions and an increasing number of large companies like The Hut Group, Holland and Barrett, AlfaSigma, Apollo Hospitals, and Nahdi Medical using our products, we are in strong position for further growth.

“The Company has invested substantially in building its senior commercial team reflecting our focus on commercialising products with larger partners, growing the US market, and developing our direct to consumer business. After a period of senescence due to COVID, we are pleased to report strong progress on our path to manufacture and distribute our second generation SweetBiotix® and Microbiome modulators.

“Post period-end, the Company successfully floated its formerly wholly-owned probiotic subsidiary, ProBiotix Health plc, returning a dividend to OptiBiotix shareholders. OptiBiotix shareholders now have a diversified interest in multiple areas within the microbiome space with the Group looking to accelerate bringing its second-generation technologies to market and acquire and/or develop new technologies to build the product pipeline and subsidiaries of the future. This strategy (RNS July 5 2016) reduces investor risk and offers the potential for significant value uplift through realisation of the Company’s assets by trade sale or IPO and the potential for multiple dividend returns for shareholders.

“With no debt, a healthy balance sheet, a growing reputation within the industry, second-generation products close to commercialisation, and growing consumer interest in the microbiome and gut health, the Company is in a strong position for continued growth in this exciting area of healthcare.”

This announcement contains information which, prior to its disclosure, was considered inside information for the purposes of the UK Market Abuse Regulation and the Directors of the Company are responsible for the release of this announcement.

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Caution regarding forward looking statements

Certain statements in this announcement, are, or may be deemed to be, forward looking statements. Forward looking statements are identified by their use of terms and phrases such as ''believe'', ''could'', "should" ''envisage'', ''estimate'', ''intend'', ''may'', ''plan'', ''potentially'', "expect", ''will'' or the negative of those, variations or comparable expressions, including references to assumptions. These forward looking statements are not based on historical facts but rather on the Directors' current expectations and assumptions regarding the Company's future growth, results of operations, performance, future capital and other expenditures (including the amount, nature and sources of funding thereof), competitive advantages, business prospects and opportunities. Such forward looking statements reflect the Directors' current beliefs and assumptions and are based on information currently available to the Directors.