Oxford Nanopore published a trading update for the six months ended 30 June 2024 ahead of results, which will be published on 3 September 2024.
The headlines were:
· Trading in-line with both revenue and gross margin guidance in the face of challenging end-markets
· Building commercial momentum heading into the second half reinforces confidence; full year 2024 and medium-term guidance reaffirmed
ONT expects to report Life Sciences Research Tools (LSRT) revenue for the six months ended 30 June 2024 of approximately £84 million (compared to H1 2023: £86.0 million), broadly flat year-on-year at constant currency; marginally down (2%) on a reported basis, including foreign exchange headwinds. Underlying[1] LSRT revenue, grew by 12.4% on a constant currency basis year-on-year. Growth for the first half of 2024 is in-line with expected 2024 phasing.
Apart from the underlying LSRT revenue, there is another £1.5m in H1 2024 of revenue for the winding down Emirati Genome Project, which added.
Underlying growth has been strongest across the PromethION franchise[2], across all product lines. Underlying growth was delivered across each region, and it was strongest across EMEAI and APAC, with commercial momentum building for the second half, supported by new product launches, a number of new and expanded contracts, and a step up in sales team productivity in the second quarter.
Gross margin for the first half is expected to show year-on-year improvement, despite foreign exchange headwinds, and remains on track to meet the Group's full year 2024 guidance.
Outlook
Full year 2024 guidance remains unchanged:
- LSRT revenue growth is expected to be between 6 and 15% on a constant currency basis and underlying revenue growth is expected to be between 20 and 30% on a constant currency basis. The Group continues to expect FY 2024 revenue to be second half weighted, with an approximate 45:55 split.
- Gross margin is expected to be approximately 57%.
All medium-term (FY 2027) guidance is unchanged.
Strategic Positioning
There are a lot of expectations for Oxford Nanopore as of late, mainly due to the failures of two of their competitors: Illumina ILMN 0.00%↑ and PacBio PACB 0.00%↑ .