(Sharecast News) - Mass spectrometry (MS) technology company Microsaic Systems reported unaudited first-half revenues of £0.5m on Monday, making for a 594% increase over the first half of 2020, and a 52% improvement over the first half of 2019, pre-pandemic.
The AIM-traded firm said it was also its strongest adjusted EBITDA performance since being admitted to trading on the market, as its gross profit rose to £0.17m for the six months ended 30 June, from a restated £0.04m a year earlier.

It noted that it made a "transformative placing" in January, raising gross proceeds of £5.5m, along with board changes and a "strategic shift" away from independent development to a commercial strategy with external partners.

In March, Microsaic inked a commercial agreement with DeepVerge, facilitating the international deployment of its products and services in applications such as water monitoring of chemicals and pathogens, and in support of DeepVerge's growing Labskin division.

The board said that in May, it entered a collaboration with Swansea University to combine real-time monitoring of environmental water using artificial intelligence (AI) in determining the link between environmental chemical pollution and human health.

Also in May, heads of terms were signed with a distributor in China for its technology, as part of a medically-licenced bedside solution for therapeutic drug monitoring.

Finally, in June, initial shipments were made to a newly-signed partner in China to secure a medical licence there for therapeutic drug monitoring, with future recurring revenue opportunities expected in 2022, while increased orders were reported through the DeepVerge sales channel under the framework agreement.

During the six months, Microsaic made five key commercial hires focusing on environmental detection of water contamination and human health markets, delivering real-time on-site monitoring and data analytics with connected 'internet of things' (IoT), AI and support services.

"I am thrilled to report this transformational performance for the first half of 2021, following the effects the Covid-19 lockdown had on our customers, suppliers and employees throughout 2020 and the operational and financial strain this placed on the company," said chief executive officer Glenn Tracey.

"The new commercial strategy of collaborating, partnering and revenue sharing is moving the company away from equipment-only sales.

"Microsaic is now focused on offering integrated real-time data analytics with AI alongside our mass spectrometry hardware, providing complete, value-adding solutions such as in-field environmental testing and on-site human diagnostics."

Tracey said the change in strategy and business model had already opened up new market opportunities and applications for the firm's differentiated technology, and demonstrated "solid evidence" of sales growth which was expected to continue into the second half.

"I am also delighted to have signed our partners HZH, which represents a major expansion of our global footprint as we continue to bring on point-of-need technical solutions in the near term."

At 1021 BST, shares in Microsaic Systems were down 17.73% at 0.2p.