By Samuel Indyk
Investing.com – Shares in Novacyt (LON:NCYT) were trading higher on Wednesday morning after the company delivered a trading update for the first half of the year, ahead of its investor meeting.
Unaudited revenue increased 50% to £94.7 million, with £54 million coming from a mix of overseas sales and the UK private testing market.
Revenue arising from the UK Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) increased 121% in the first half of the year to £40.8 million. However, as previously announced, the sales from the DHSC are still currently in dispute.
The AIM-listed company has no further updates to make on the supply contract dispute with the DHSC currently.
Business Update
The Anglo-French company said its Primerdesign subsidiary has been awarded a new contract under the Public Health England National Microbiology Framework, effective immediately for the supply of PROmate COVID-19 tests to the NHS.
The contract is valued at up to £4.7 million and will last until 31st March 2022.
Novacyt has also entered into a two-year Long-Term Agreement (LTA) with the World Health Organization for the supply of its genesig COVID-19 tests. UNICEF has also confirmed that its existing LTA has been extended by 12 months to July 2022.
The diagnostics company said that sales to the private market - such as film, media, and travel industries – increased “significantly” in Q2 2021 compared to Q1.
As travel reopens, Novacyt expects continued strong growth in private testing and reiterated its revenue guidance of £100 million for the full year, excluding DHSC revenues.
At 10:17BST, shares in Novacyt were trading higher by 12.2% at 334.30 pence per share.