Ekf Diagnostics Share Discussion Threads

[tongosti] 14/9/2021 08:46

Now this is the chance of the stock price to react. It's now or never time. Still in with my half risk position bu happy to upgrade to a full one IF this acts differently this time.

[9degrees] 14/9/2021 08:20

yes wan - typo-I thought that looked a bit odd

[wan] 14/9/2021 07:58

Another upgrade, excellent Results and outlook!

Pleased to see that we have a new heading "infectious disease", and very pleased to see that revenues are set to grow further under this heading and will also be driven from non-COVID-19 indications and 'importantly' from a broader customer base.

It will thus be very interesting learn what non-COVID-19 tests are in demand and ultimately contracted for (especially given the up and coming winter cold/flu season). A very encouraging and heathy position!


(There appears to be a typo regarding cash generated in H1, which is referred to as H1 2020)

[hastings] 14/9/2021 07:42

Away at present, so unable to catch up with management this time around. But, like others delighted by today's news.

[rivaldo] 14/9/2021 07:28

Lovely to see this today....

"The Board is very confident that trading for the year ending 31 December 2021 will be comfortably ahead of already upgraded management expectations"

Interesting to see that EKF are opening new facilities in relation to COVID testing kits "with the expectation that sales of these products will continue for the foreseeable future", and that "we are now discussing the supply of products for non-COVID-19 indications" resulting from the success of the COVID test kits.

Plus encouraging to hear that the core business "is capable of generating significant double-digit growth in adjusted EBITDA over the next three to four years".

[masurenguy] 14/9/2021 07:26

Half-year Report: Further upgrade to current year trading

EKF Diagnostics Holdings announces its unaudited interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2021, as well as a further upgrade to current year trading.

The strong trading from the beginning of the year continued into the second quarter of 2021. This continues to reflect improving trading in the core business and ongoing strong demand for EKF's contract manufacturing services for COVID-19 sample collection devices and associated kits. The Board is now very confident that trading for the full year will be comfortably ahead of already materially upgraded management expectations.

Financial Highlights

-- Revenue up 46.5% to £38.56m (H1 2020: £26.33m)
-- Adjusted EBITDA* up 42.9% to £12.76m (H1 2020: £8.93m)
-- Net profit after tax up 122% to £9.19m (H1 2020: £4.14m)
-- Net cash generated from operations of £1.13m (H1 2020: £6.94m)
-- Net cash of £20.38m (30 June 2020: £16.28m) (31 December 2020: £21.41m)
-- Dividend of 1.1p per share to be paid on 1 December 2021 (record date: 5 November 2021)

Operational Highlights

-- Core business revenues up £1.21m (6%) in first six months of 2021
-- Life Sciences revenues including contract manufacturing for PrimeStore MTM & PBS up 142% to £18.50m
-- Signed multi-million dollar global supply contract for phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) with global private sector partner, whilst broadening customer base and reducing reliance on this single customer
-- Opened new PrimeStore MTM and PBS manufacturing facilities in Cardiff and Boerne to meet wider customer demand in UK and USA
-- Trellus Health admitted to AIM on 28 May 2021

Christopher Mills, Non-Executive Chairman of EKF, commented:"The Board is very confident that trading for the year ending 31 December 2021 will be comfortably ahead of already upgraded management expectations. The Group remains confident that its growth strategy, as outlined to shareholders at the Annual General Meeting in May, and set out above, will create a business which, aside from any COVID-19 related revenues, is capable of generating significant double-digit growth in adjusted EBITDA over the next three to four years."

[wan] 12/9/2021 07:15

Quality will ultimately count -

Health and Social Care Secretary, Sajid Javid said:
It is completely unacceptable for any private testing company to take advantage of holidaymakers and we are taking action to clamp down on cowboy behaviour.

I requested a review from the Competition and Markets Authority to address exploitative behaviour in the private testing market and ensure the government is doing everything it can to crack down on excessive pricing and inaccurate claims.

Through our regular reviews and spot-checks, we have identified even more providers that were messing around with costs and have now removed 91 providers from Gov.uk and corrected inaccurate prices of 135 private providers who will be removed from the list if they advertise misleading prices again.

From 21 September, in order to ensure travel test providers are performing to a high legalised standard, there will be tough new penalties for companies that fail to follow the law, including fixed fines of up to £10,000.

I am reviewing the recommendations from the Competition and Markets Authority and will outline further changes shortly to ensure consumers are given the best tests at the very best prices.

Published 11 September 2021

[wan] 12/9/2021 06:53

According to a number of reports, the government is understood to be considering dropping the requirement for double-vaccinated passengers to take a laboratory-based PCR test when arriving in the UK from most countries from October and would bring the UK into line with many European countries.

Apparently later flow tests may still be required (and presumably a PCR test if negative).

And in any regard, and not before time, further intervention is imminent -

CMA publishes recommendations to improve PCR testing market
The CMA has published advice to the UK Government on ways to make the PCR testing market work better for consumers.

From:
Competition and Markets Authority
Published

10 September 2021

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has found there are features of the PCR testing market which mean competition alone will not deliver the right outcomes for consumers. There is a risk of a ‘race to the bottom’, in which providers compete on grounds other than high clinical quality and travellers end up losing out.

Full release worth reading -

[mirandaj] 11/9/2021 06:54

Adam Reynolds will be pleased.....

[wan] 11/9/2021 06:49

More information/substance regarding the above post -

Biden Administration Details Expanded Testing as Part of Broader COVID-19 Action Plan
Sep 10, 2021

NEW YORK – President Biden on Thursday announced a COVID-19 Action Plan that includes initiatives to increase the amount of testing available across the country.

The testing and masking portion of the action plan — which also discusses vaccination mandates, economic recovery, and improving COVID-19 patient care — is largely focused on rapid point-of-care and at-home testing for the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Biden said he will use the Defense Production Act to further accelerate production of rapid tests. The federal government will procure 280 million tests from multiple manufacturers to "ensure a broad, sustained industrial capacity for COVID-19 test manufacturing," according to the plan.

The tests will be available for long-term care facilities, community testing sites, shelters for unhoused people, prisons and jails, and other vulnerable populations and congregate settings. The increase in manufacturing will also provide for adequate stockpiles of tests and the ability to surge additional manufacturing in the future if necessary, the White House said.

In addition, retailers including Walmart, Amazon, and Kroger will sell rapid tests at-cost for the next three months, allowing people to buy the tests for up to 35 percent less than current pricing, the White House said. Medicaid is also required to cover at-home tests for free for beneficiaries. The plan noted that states should make sure that "any tools they use to manage at-home testing do not establish arbitrary barriers for people seeking care."

The organizations also recommended leveraging the Strategic National Stockpile to bolster test capacity; ensuring the US Centers for Disease Control contracts directly with labs to retain necessary supplies to surge capacity when needed; providing consistent information to states about testing; allowing states flexibility to modify testing plans; extending the public health emergency; and making CDC's studies on serology and antibody testing public to understand the immune response to COVID-19 vaccines.

Full story -

Readers will also note the reference to studies on serology and antibody testing.

[tongosti] 08/9/2021 09:48

Conviction is the enemy of truth wan. I am currently long but have this baby on a very, very short leash as this is hardly acting right. One should always get suspicious around failed attempts to break out.

[wan] 08/9/2021 07:58

Above post edited to include more of the story

[wan] 08/9/2021 07:27

In broader healthcare news, and as healthcare transitions to a new model of care -

Amazon looks to bring telehealth, in-person care to 20 more cities.
It will soon offer the "full package" of hybrid virtual/in-person care in Philadelphia, Chicago, Dallas and Boston, Insider reports, with more expansion to follow in 2022.

By
Kat Jercich
September 07, 2021

Amazon is reportedly looking to launch its app-based home visits in 20 major U.S. cities through 2022.

According to Insider's Blake Dodge, Amazon Care will bring the "full package" of telehealth and in-person services to Philadelphia, Chicago, Dallas and Boston in 2021, with 16 more to follow the next year.

Amazon representatives told Healthcare IT News after publication that the company does not comment on rumors or speculation.

WHY IT MATTERS

Amazon Care has grown rapidly since it was first offered exclusively to the tech giant's Seattle-based employees in 2019.

This past September, Amazon announced it would allow employees to access the app-based care throughout Washington state. It then made services available to other employers in the state before officially expanding its telehealth option to employers in all 50 states this summer.

But its in-person services, which include follow-up blood draws and exams, have been limited so far to users in D.C. and Baltimore, as well as in Washington state.

Now, reports Dodge, Amazon plans to offer in-person options in Atlanta, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, Nashville, New York, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, San Jose and St. Louis in 2022.

That would bring the total number of cities up to 22, in addition to the entirety of Washington state.

Dodge also notes that Amazon has been attempting to make inroads at health plans, which would open up the service to insured people in addition to employer clients.

THE LARGER TREND

In June, an Amazon exec said it had signed several companies to the company's telehealth service.

At the time, VP Babak Parviz said the company is planning to make the "hybrid" virtual/in-person service available in additional regions "as fast as we can."

Amazon also made waves in July with news of its at-home COVID-19 testing kit, which can be purchased for $39.99.

Full story -

Amazon's healthcare website has been updated accordingly -

Experience a new kind of healthcare
Amazon Care is healthcare built around you, your life, and your schedule.

[pugugly] 07/9/2021 08:07

wan - Many thanks - My doc has just told me I need to get a serology test - Will feed back details of which test used after I get tested.

[wan] 07/9/2021 05:44

Pugugly...Yes, EKF have exclusive rights to market and distribute the Kantaro serology tests in the UK and Europe. Interest in this area is clearly building, and it will thus be interesting to see to what degree it might be being utilised -

[tongosti] 06/9/2021 21:42

gm - your investing acumen is out of this universe. Please keep taking the bait - you're the one and only in this (online) village. Lol.

[senseibull] 06/9/2021 20:10

Probably not!

[pugugly] 06/9/2021 19:45

I cannot remember if EKF are in the business of Serological tests which are growing in importance as an aid to evaluating when and if a booster vaccination is needed.

Thoughts?

[mg1982] 06/9/2021 17:53

your timing is usually off Tong, we've worked it out since your spectacular #SDI trade.

[tongosti] 06/9/2021 17:49

Price action v v poor.

[tongosti] 04/9/2021 16:34

You would make a song and a dance for the share price to go up though. Let's see if this baby will follow up this coming week (if not managing risk is the name of the game - unless one is called mg of course:).

[wan] 04/9/2021 07:27

Obviously we don't want to make a song and dance about it, but investors may have noted that rates of infection are on the rise again, and are unfortunately likely, at the very least, to stay elevated.

The following also suggests the same, with test manufacturing and lab capacities being increased -

Abbott, Quest, Quidel scramble to add test capacity as delta variant surges
Published Sept. 3, 2021

The diagnostics industry is racing to add capacity as the delta-driven surge in COVID-19 cases increases demand for PCR tests and at-home rapid antigen kits.

Quest Diagnostics is adding testing platforms in regions with high demand while manufacturers of at-home tests such as Abbott and Quidel are ramping up capacity again after the early summer slump.

Demand for coronavirus tests plummeted over the first half of the year as the vaccine rollout brought the crisis under control in the U.S. However, since July the more transmissible delta variant has ripped through the country, most notably in areas with low vaccination rates. The nationwide seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases is now up to 167,000, more than double the level at the start of August.

The commercial impact of the delta surge, and management expectations of the sustainability of the sales opportunity, will become clearer when the financial results season gets underway late next month.

Full story -

Important as the above is, ultimately the bigger story here will be the new opportunities created and the positive impact delivered by EKF's Growth Strategy on the 'core' business (new and existing).