Years of delays finally abated for Futura Medical in 2011 as its flagship erection-enhancing condom, CSD500, cleared the last regulatory hurdles for sales in Europe – leaving the way clear for Reckitt Benckiser to market it as a Durex product. Accordingly, Futura should begin seeing recurring revenues this year from that, as well as from its PET500 ejaculation delay anaesthetic spray – suggesting more upside ahead for the shares.
The approval of CSD500 helped free up considerable resources and allowed the company to spend the biggest proportion of its budget on research and development in four years – £2.26m, or 66 per cent of total operating expenses. Chief executive James Barder explained that Futura is now in a position to spend more on developing its early-stage product pipeline in the hope of generating enough data to interest potential licensing partners. Futura already has a development agreement with GlaxoSmithKline for TPR100, a delivery system for anti-inflammatory drugs, and has entered into an evaluation agreement with an unnamed company for TPR100-Rx – which delivers a stronger dose. Other products in development include a topical treatment, CRF100, for cellulite.
Broker forecasts are under review but, prior to these results, Nomura Code forecast a pre-tax loss for 2012 of £400,000, giving a loss per share of 0.43p.
FUTURA MEDICAL (FUM) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 95p | MARKET VALUE: | £70m | |
| TOUCH: | 93-96p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 108p | LOW: 55p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | nil | PE RATIO: | na | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 4p | NET CASH: | £2.58m | |
| Year to 31 Dec | Turnover (£000) | Pre-tax profit (£000) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 15.0 | -2.46 | -4.10 | nil |
| 2008 | 150 | -2.08 | -3.40 | nil |
| 2009 | 50.0 | -1.51 | -2.20 | nil |
| 2010 | 125 | -1.32 | -1.61 | nil |
| 2011 | 158 | -2.07 | -2.53 | nil |
| % change | +26 | – | – | – |
Ex-div: – Payment: – | ||||
