Health Check: Records tumble as biotech’s star quarterly reporters pick up the pace

• Several emerging life science plays are taking revenue to new heights – and some have even turned profitable
• Little Green Pharma seeks to avoid a second pay ‘strike’
• Althea founder exits the building

It is a truth, universally acknowledged, that biotechs with little or no revenue and cascading cash outflows will leave their quarterly disclosures to the last possible moment.

Given dozens of other companies holding off until around July 31 – the deadline for lodging June quarterlies – this crowds out the bad news.

The corollary is that those with pleasant surprises prefer to break with the hoi polio and go early.

True to trend, today’s reporters have broken more sales records than our Glasgow-bound Gout Gout.

In fact, the last time your columnist heard so much about records was in a Brashs store in the 1980s … which dates him somewhat.

The company (and patient) are doing well

The provider of software to make hospitals run more smoothly, Alcidion (ASX:ALC) reports record quarterly cash flow of $7.4 million for the quarter.

This takes the year’s surplus to $5.8 million (also an all-time high).

Full-year receipts came in at $50.9 million, 16% higher.

Alcidion provides software to hospitals – such as patient workflow tools – to enable them to run more smoothly and prevent surgeons from amputating the wrong leg.

The company has a meaningful local and UK presence across 400 hospitals and 87 healthcare organisations.

Management reports new June quarter sales of $6.7 million, 73% of which are recurring.

The company also affirms underlying earnings of $4.5 million for the 2024-25 year, upped from $3 million in June.

This should be confirmed at August’s full year results prezzo.

Hear! Hear! A record year for Audeara

The maker of hearing augmentation devices, Audeara (ASX:AUA) reports June quarter revenue of $722,000, which takes full-year turnover to a record $3.78 million (up 22%).

Audeara own-branded headphones are sold via hearing clinics.

But the company has skewed its business to its AUA Technology arm, which has an ‘Intel inside’ model of providing the technology to big-ticket international customers.

These include the 400-year-old US instrument maker, Avedis Zildjian.

Audeara founder and CEO Dr James Fielding dubs the quarter as a “period of consolidation”.

He says the company “executed on several strategic initiatives to ensure it capitalises on the growth established through the AUA Technology division over the previous 12 months”.

Audeara also had $757,000 of cash outflows for the quarter, reducing June-end cash to $1.42 million.

But Fielding says the company should see a “material uplift” in current quarter revenues, owing to a chunky Avedis Zildjian re-order.

Bioxyne eyes European growth

A supplier of cannabis and psychedelic meds, Bioxyne (ASX:BXN) more than doubled full-year revenue to $9.55 million, with full-year revenue up 215% to $29.3 million.

Did we mention that was a record?

The company also managed positive cash flow of $1.5 million for the June stanza.

This takes the full-year cash flow to $6.2 million, compared to a $3.6 million deficit in 2023-24.

Management attributes the surge to the Australian operating of its subsidiary Breathe Life Sciences.

But Bioxyne’s greater growth prospects lie with the UK and European markets, notably Germany where it has inked two key manufacturing and supply agreements.

Little Green faces big pay votes

Still on pot stocks, Little Green Pharma (ASX:LGP) again faces the music on two remuneration-related motions at its August 21 AGM.

As a March balance date entity, Little Green beats the usual AGM rush.

Last year, 83% of voting shares were cast against Little Green’s ‘rem’ report, well beyond the 25% ‘no’ vote threshold.

If investors again knock back the proposal, they’ll vote on a motion to spill the board (this one requires a minimum 50% ‘yes’ vote).

The board has also reprised last year’s proposal to accelerate the vesting of management and executive share incentives, in the event of the “person ceasing to hold such office.”

Investors overwhelmingly opposed this one last time as well.

Thorney Investments is Little Green’s biggest shareholder on 19.7%.

Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting supported a 2021 capital raising and emerged with 10%. But it’s not clear how much she holds now.

Althea founder bows out

We’re not obsessed with cannabis – that’s a promise – but it behooves us to report that Althea Group (ASX:AGH) founder and CEO Josh Fegan has left the company, with “immediate effect”.

Fegan created Althea in 2016 and the company listed in September 2018. Fegan had been at the helm all that time.

As we reported on Wednesday, Althea has given up on the over-competed local medicinal pot sector.

The company now is focusing on the North American recreational market via its subsidiary Peak Processing.

Specifically, Peak is getting into THC-laced beverages as an alternative to alcoholic ones.

Althea share tumbled 10% on the surprise tidings.

On Bell Potter’s gut feel, Microba’s worth much more

Bell Potter reckons there’s 60% share price upside in Microba Life Sciences (ASX:MAP), which provides microbiome testing.

Microba on Wednesday reported a 13% June quarter revenue decline, to $4.2 million.

But stripping out the divestment of a legacy research business, revenue grew 4% year-on-year.

Microba has two core products: Metaxplore and Metapanel.

Metapanel is the ‘first line’ test to determine whether a doc can treat a pathogen simply with antibiotics.

Metaxplore probes anything else that could be wrong with the patient’s microbiome.

The company has free cash flow burn of $6.3 million for the quarter and $15.3 million for the year. But this rate has been “relatively steady” over the last two years.

Following a $14.5m capital raising – backed by biggest shareholder Sonic Healthcare – Microba has $20.2 million of cash with no debt.

“Most legacy sales have now unwound, so we anticipate more meaningful consolidated topline growth for the group in 2025-26,” Bell Potter says.

The forecasts an adjusted net loss of $14.6 million for 2024-25 and a simialar deficit this year.

The company expects to break even in 2027-28.

Bell Potter values stock at 16 cents, tempered from its previous 26 cent guesstimate.