NetScientific recently announced full-year results for 2017. It was a year of progress for the company, which is carrying forward into 2018. In February 2018, ProAxsis had its first commercial sale of Neutrophil Elastase Airways Test (NEATstik) for measuring active neutrophil elastase, in this case to a research lab conducting a respiratory clinical trial with a pharmaceutical company. In March, Vortex announced a collaboration with BioView for automated clinical biomarker identification of circulating tumour cells.
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NetScientific |
Advancing on multiple fronts to commercialisation |
Financial results |
Pharma & biotech |
18 April 2018 |
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NetScientific recently announced full-year results for 2017. It was a year of progress for the company, which is carrying forward into 2018. In February 2018, ProAxsis had its first commercial sale of Neutrophil Elastase Airways Test (NEATstik) for measuring active neutrophil elastase, in this case to a research lab conducting a respiratory clinical trial with a pharmaceutical company. In March, Vortex announced a collaboration with BioView for automated clinical biomarker identification of circulating tumour cells.
Year end |
Revenue (£m) |
PBT* |
EPS* |
DPS |
P/E |
Yield |
12/16 |
0.5 |
(12.3) |
(20.6) |
0.0 |
N/A |
N/A |
12/17 |
0.4 |
(9.5) |
(13.6) |
0.0 |
N/A |
N/A |
12/18e |
1.9 |
(12.4) |
(13.5) |
0.0 |
N/A |
N/A |
12/19e |
4.1 |
(9.7) |
(10.8) |
0.0 |
N/A |
N/A |
Note: *PBT and EPS are normalised, excluding amortisation of acquired intangibles, exceptional items and share-based payments.
First commercial sale of NEATstik
In February, ProAxsis announced the first commercial sale of NEATstik, a lateral flow device for rapid, easy monitoring of neutrophil elastase levels in the clinic or home from sputum samples. Neutrophil elastase is involved in chronic respiratory diseases such as cystic fibrosis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and is an established biomarker of infection and inflammation.
Vortex collaboration with BioView
In March, Vortex announced a collaboration with BioView, an Israel-based company that provides automated cell imaging and analysis solutions. The purpose of this collaboration is to enable automated identification of clinical biomarkers expressed by circulating tumour cells that have been collected by Vortex’s platform.
Equity raise announced
NetScientific announced a share offering to raise £5m in gross proceeds, which was approved by shareholders at the General Meeting on 16 April 2018. Woodford funds, which already owns 45.0% of NetScientific, subscribed to approximately £3m worth of the offering. According to the company, this will provide enough cash to fund operations into 2019.
Valuation: £67.9m or 86p per share
We have adjusted our valuation of NetScientific from £70.5m or 102p per share to £67.9m or 86p per share. This is mainly due to a more conservative view of the revenue ramp for Vortex, Wanda and Glycotest (though peak sales remain the same) and a higher share count following the equity raise, which was partly mitigated by rolling forward our NPVs to 2018. We expect to update our valuation with the closing of financings for the individual companies, due in 2018, and following the closing of the recently announced financing for NetScientific itself.
ProAxsis progress
NEATstik is an immunoassay for routine, point-of-care monitoring of neutrophil elastase. Neutrophil elastase is involved in chronic respiratory diseases such as cystic fibrosis and COPD, as neutrophil elastase activity is responsible for significant airway damage and is a strong predictor of lung function decline. Detecting increased neutrophil elastase levels earlier can reduce exacerbations and hospitalisation risk in patients with cystic fibrosis and COPD and improve health outcomes. The recent sale of NEATstik for use in a clinical trial helps to validate the approach and the technology.
As a reminder, ProAxsis also announced in January that it had received a CE mark for a test to detect active plasmin using its ProteaseTag technology. Plasmin is a protease present in the blood that, among other functions, breaks down the fibrin protein found in blood clots. It is implicated in inflammatory disorders of the lung, such as idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), because these conditions are characterised by the impairment of fibrin breakdown, which may contribute to the pathology of these disorders. The plasmin assay may therefore be useful in the lab for the development of treatments for these disorders.
All of this will help ProAxsis continue its commercial momentum. ProAxsis previously announced it had tripled the number of orders for its Active Neutrophil Elastase Immunoassay kit in H217 over H117, partially as a result of a high level (75%) of repeat orders. Due to this momentum, NetScientific continues to expect ProAxsis to generate around £1m in revenues in 2018.
Valuation
We have adjusted our valuation of NetScientific from £70.5m or 102p per share to £67.9m or 86p per share. This is mainly due to a more conservative view of the revenue ramp for Vortex, Wanda and Glycotest (although peak sales remain the same) and a higher share count following the equity raise, which was partly mitigated by rolling forward our NPVs to 2018. We expect to update our valuation with the closing of financings for the individual companies, expected in 2018 (Glycotest for example is aiming to close a Series A in H118), and following the closing of the recently announced financing for NetScientific itself.
Exhibit 1: Valuation of NetScientific
Portfolio company |
Prob. of success |
Profitability |
Peak sales (£m) |
Margin |
rNPV |
Ownership |
Share value (£m) |
Vortex |
15.0% |
2020 |
138 |
43% |
16.3 |
95.0% |
15.5 |
Wanda |
7.5% |
2020 |
326 |
52% |
16.6 |
70.9% |
11.8 |
Proaxsis |
15.0% |
2020 |
47 |
51% |
15.3 |
56.5% |
8.6 |
Glycotest |
20.0% |
2021 |
113 |
51% |
17.7 |
87.5% |
15.5 |
PDS |
10.0% |
2022 |
270 |
56% |
29.8 |
17.4% |
5.2 |
Total |
|
|
|
|
|
|
56.6 |
Net cash and equivalents (H217 + offering) (£m) |
11.3 |
||||||
Total firm value (£m) |
67.9 |
||||||
Total shares (m) |
78.6 |
||||||
Value per share (p) |
86 |
||||||
Source: NetScientific reports, Edison Investment Research
Financials
NetScientific reported revenue for 2017 of £0.39m and an operating loss of £10.6m. We are lowering our 2018 revenue forecasts from £3.5m to £1.9m as we take a more conservative view of the revenue ramp for some of the portfolio companies, although the growth rate remains high at 385%. We are also introducing our 2019 forecasts, which feature revenues of £4.1m.
Cash as of the end of the year was £6.9m, which the company has said is enough to fund the business until the end of June 2018. Hence, NetScientific announced a share offering to raise £5m in gross proceeds, which was approved by shareholders at the General Meeting on 16 April 2018. Woodford funds, which already owns 45.0% of NetScientific, subscribed to approximately £3m worth of the offering. According to the company, this will provide enough cash to fund operations into 2019. We record a financing shortfall as £11m in illustrative debt in 2018, which could be reduced by successful Series A financings.
Exhibit 2: Financial summary
£'000s |
2015 |
2016 |
2017 |
2018e |
2019e |
||
Year end 31 December |
IFRS |
IFRS |
IFRS |
IFRS |
IFRS |
||
PROFIT & LOSS |
|||||||
Revenue |
|
|
122 |
518 |
386 |
1,873 |
4,132 |
Cost of Sales |
(6) |
(255) |
(245) |
(428) |
(1,207) |
||
Gross Profit |
116 |
263 |
141 |
1,445 |
2,925 |
||
Research and development |
(7,256) |
(7,443) |
(5,177) |
(7,197) |
(5,114) |
||
Selling, general & administrative |
(4,260) |
(5,001) |
(5,281) |
(5,560) |
(5,911) |
||
EBITDA |
|
|
(11,530) |
(12,570) |
(10,814) |
(11,533) |
(8,321) |
Operating Profit (before amort. and except.) |
(11,400) |
(12,429) |
(10,593) |
(11,312) |
(8,100) |
||
Intangible Amortisation |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
||
Exceptionals/Other |
(1,518) |
(666) |
0 |
0 |
0 |
||
Operating Profit |
(12,918) |
(13,095) |
(10,593) |
(11,312) |
(8,100) |
||
Net Interest |
78 |
86 |
1,058 |
(1,126) |
(1,626) |
||
Other (change in fair value of warrants) |
0 |
(49) |
(45) |
0 |
0 |
||
Profit Before Tax (norm) |
|
|
(11,322) |
(12,343) |
(9,535) |
(12,438) |
(9,726) |
Profit Before Tax (IFRS) |
|
|
(12,840) |
(13,058) |
(9,580) |
(12,438) |
(9,726) |
Tax |
94 |
(18) |
202 |
62 |
204 |
||
Deferred tax |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
||
Profit After Tax (norm) |
(11,229) |
(12,361) |
(9,333) |
(12,376) |
(9,522) |
||
Profit After Tax (IFRS) |
(12,746) |
(13,076) |
(9,378) |
(12,376) |
(9,522) |
||
Minority interest |
1,905 |
1,881 |
1,060 |
2,111 |
1,019 |
||
Profit After Tax after minority interest (FRS 3) |
(10,842) |
(11,195) |
(8,318) |
(10,266) |
(8,502) |
||
Average Number of Shares Outstanding (m) |
38.2 |
51.1 |
61.0 |
75.8 |
78.6 |
||
EPS - normalised (p) |
|
|
(24.4) |
(20.6) |
(13.6) |
(13.5) |
(10.8) |
EPS - IFRS (p) |
|
|
(28.4) |
(21.9) |
(13.6) |
(13.5) |
(10.8) |
Dividend per share (p) |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
||
BALANCE SHEET |
|||||||
Fixed Assets |
|
|
2,946 |
4,054 |
3,805 |
5,063 |
7,221 |
Intangible Assets |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
||
Tangible Assets |
285 |
779 |
891 |
1,069 |
1,247 |
||
Other |
2,660 |
3,275 |
2,914 |
3,994 |
5,974 |
||
Current Assets |
|
|
23,799 |
11,034 |
7,968 |
12,017 |
5,309 |
Stocks |
0 |
0 |
86 |
375 |
516 |
||
Debtors |
560 |
1,578 |
1,014 |
187 |
413 |
||
Cash |
23,239 |
9,456 |
6,868 |
11,455 |
4,379 |
||
Other |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
||
Current Liabilities |
|
|
(2,206) |
(2,172) |
(905) |
(2,517) |
(2,192) |
Creditors |
(2,156) |
(2,044) |
(777) |
(2,389) |
(2,064) |
||
Short term borrowings |
(50) |
(128) |
(128) |
(128) |
(128) |
||
Long Term Liabilities |
|
|
0 |
(80) |
(70) |
(11,264) |
(16,264) |
Long term borrowings |
0 |
(80) |
(70) |
(11,264) |
(16,264) |
||
Other long term liabilities |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
||
Net Assets |
|
|
24,538 |
12,836 |
10,798 |
3,300 |
(5,926) |
Minority Interest |
(1,805) |
(3,875) |
(4,573) |
(6,684) |
(7,703) |
||
Shareholder Equity |
|
|
22,733 |
8,961 |
6,225 |
(3,384) |
(13,629) |
CASH FLOW |
|||||||
Operating Cash Flow |
|
|
(10,752) |
(12,939) |
(10,479) |
(8,663) |
(8,275) |
Net Interest |
38 |
43 |
(11) |
(1,126) |
(1,626) |
||
Tax |
83 |
112 |
(131) |
62 |
204 |
||
Capex |
(299) |
(457) |
(399) |
(399) |
(399) |
||
Acquisitions/disposals |
(144) |
(1,261) |
1,310 |
(1,080) |
(1,980) |
||
Financing |
18,208 |
0 |
8,083 |
4,600 |
0 |
||
Dividends |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
||
Other |
39 |
66 |
(574) |
0 |
0 |
||
Net Cash Flow |
7,172 |
(14,436) |
(2,201) |
(6,607) |
(12,076) |
||
Opening net debt/(cash) |
|
|
(16,136) |
(23,189) |
(9,248) |
(6,670) |
(63) |
HP finance leases initiated |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
||
Exchange rate movements |
(212) |
(603) |
387 |
0 |
0 |
||
Other |
92 |
1,098 |
(764) |
0 |
0 |
||
Closing net debt/(cash) |
|
|
(23,189) |
(9,248) |
(6,670) |
(63) |
12,013 |
Source: NetScientific reports, Edison Investment Research
|
|
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