Interim Report 3 2019/20

November 2019 – January 2020

Net Sales 1 764 (1 845) KSEK
Operating result before depreciation (EBITDA) -3 906 ( -4 744) KSEK
Net result -5 858 (-6 147) KSEK
Earnings per share -0.41 (-0.45) SEK

May 2019 – January 2020

Net Sales 3 246 (3 240) KSEK
Operating result before depreciation (EBITDA) -14 103 ( -12 471) KSEK
Net result -19 775 (-16 700) KSEK
Earnings per share -1.37 (-1.21) SEK

In short

  • Net sales for the quarter in level with previous 3rd quarter, 1 764 (1 845) KSEK.
  • Gross margin amounted to 59 (71) %.
  • The coronavirus outbreak has resulted in postponed purchases of HoloMonitor.
  • PHI’s subsidiary in the important US market has been initially staffed, as planned.
  • The company has decided to reallocate and focus marketing resources on digital marketing.
  • Gladstone Institutes, University of California and PHI recently formed San Francisco’s Center of Excellence for Holographic Imaging Cytometry.
  • The development effort of adding fluorescent capabilities to HoloMonitor has passed the proof of concept stage and is progressing according to plan.

CEO commentary

Strategic partnerships

PHI Inc., our subsidiary in Boston has now been initially staffed, as planned. With permanent staff on the ground in the US, we will be able to prepare, train and support a US sales organization much more efficiently than what was previously achievable. PHI Inc's ability to immediately support a larger sales organization in the US is a crucial part of ensuring that a leading industry player succeeds in selling HoloMonitor in desired volumes.

Digital marketing

The life science supply industry is unique in that potential customers, through their publications, disclose their professional interests and contact information, making it possible to selectively target potential customers on a large scale using digital marketing.

To seize this window of opportunity to aggressively challenge the competition in the US and on other key markets, we have taken the strategic decision to reallocate and focus our marketing resources on digital advertising, webinars, social media visibility and industry influencers. Substantial parts of the life science industry still rely on traditional marketing activities, which are resource demanding, often in combination with moderate impact.

Centers of Excellence

We recently formed San Francisco’s Center of Excellence for Holographic Imaging Cytometry with Gladstone Institutes and University of California in San Francisco (UCSF). The Center is an expansion of the successful Center of Excellence program between UCSF and PHI, which has resulted in several scientific papers in prominent journals.

Supported by PHI, the center’s activities focus on bringing the benefits of holographic cytometry and machine learning based on artificial intelligence to the San Francisco research community. Apart from conducting cutting-edge research, the center will provide training and technical support to the surrounding research community in the San Francisco Bay Area.

In addition, we recently joined forces with the Huntsman Cancer Institute in the battle against cancer. Using our HoloMonitor technology, the researchers at Huntsman aim to develop improved methods for quantifying the phenomena that regulate tumors’ ability to metastasize.

Application development — fluorescence

The development effort of adding fluorescent capabilities to HoloMonitor has passed the proof of concept stage and is progressing as planned, which has prompted us to include Centers of Excellence and other key reference customers in the development process.

The great and unanimous customer interest in the project comes from the fact that we in a simple way combine functionality from two widely different and used instrument types in a single instrument, while minimizing the disadvantages of traditional fluorescence staining. PHI's interest lies in that we estimate to more than double our market. For further information regarding the fluorescence project, see the previous report here.

Sales

The coronavirus outbreak has postponed purchases of HoloMonitor, which to date has been particularly noticeable in China. We do, however, expect that planned purchases will be completed, as soon academic institutions reopen and operate normally again.

Peter Egelberg, CEO

Net sales and result

Net sales for the third quarter amounted to 1 764 (1 845) KSEK and operating result before depreciation (EBITDA) to -3 906 (-4 774) KSEK. Net result amounted to -5 858 (-6 147) KSEK.

Investments

With an emphasis on application development to further broaden the scope and efficiency of the company’s products, the company invested 862 (731) KSEK during the period in patents together with product, production and application development.

Financing

Cash, cash equivalents and unutilized granted credits amounted to 22 663 (29 569) KSEK by the end of the period. The equity ratio was 82 (83) %.

Directed equity issue

The AGM on October 15 decided to issue 15 817 shares in a directed equity issue for a subscription price of 28.20 SEK per share and a nominal value of 0.2 SEK per share. The issue, which was fully finalized during the period, increased the share capital by 3 163.40 SEK and was executed to fulfill obligations under guarantee agreements regarding subscription of warrants of series TO 2.

Risks

The company may be affected by various factors, described in the 2018/19 Annual Report. These factors may individually or jointly increase risks for the operation and result of the company.

Accounting principles

The accounts are prepared in accordance with the Annual Accounts Act and general advice from the Swedish Accounting Standards Board BFNAR 2012:1 Annual accounts and consolidated accounts (K3).

Review

This interim report has not been subject to review by the company’s auditor.

Statements about the future

Statements concerning the company’s business environment and the future in this report reflect the board of director’s current view of future events and financial developments. Forward-looking statements only express the judgments and assumptions made by the board of directors on the day of the report. These statements have been carefully assessed. However, it is brought to the reader’s attention that these statements are associated with uncertainty, like all statements about the future.

Calendar

June 25, 2020: Year-end report 2019/20

On behalf of the Board of Directors
Peter Egelberg, CEO

For additional information please contact:
Peter Egelberg
Tel: +46 703 19 42 74
E-mail: [email protected]
Web: www.phiab.com