Abingdon Health: Yorkshire firm downplays auditor's caution with growth expected 'next year and beyond'
York-based Abingdon Health has downplayed a note of caution made by auditors in its latest results as the company said it still expects to deliver growth next year and beyond.
It came after the firm’s revenues in the first quarter of the new financial year landed below directors’ expectations.
Abingdon said this was “principally due to delays in the progress of certain ongoing customer programmes which has restricted the group’s ability to recognise revenue and invoice for milestone payments.”
It added: “These delays relate to a combination of factors including availability of speciality reagents and specification updates, and the directors expect this revenue to be mostly recovered over the remainder of the financial year.”
Following the delays, an auditor’s report for Abingdon’s latest accounts included a “material uncertainty related to going concern”.
The auditor stated that the group's ability to maintain sufficient cash headroom throughout the forecast period depends on customer milestones being delivered in line with the directors' expectations.
A statement in the accounts added: “Should further delays occur, the group may require additional financing, which is not committed at the date of approval of these financial statements. These circumstances indicate the existence of a material uncertainty which may cast significant doubt on the group and the parent company's ability to continue as a going concern.”
Speaking on the comments, Dr Chris Hand, executive chairman of Abingdon, said: “This is just simply a note of caution, agreed with the auditors to standard wording, which reflects short-term delays we've seen on some programmes, but as we've said, these have just been delayed rather than cancelled and so we expect a significant second half weighting of revenue in FY27. We still expect to deliver significant growth in FY27 and beyond.”
Abingdon posted total revenues of £11.3m for the year ended 30 June, up 32 per cent year-on-year. The company also posted a pre-tax loss of £2m against £3.5m the previous year.