Slimming products see a 928 per cent leap in sales

OptiBiotix is benefiting as more people adopt a healthy lifestyle

The York-based firm said total invoiced sales of LPLDL and SlimBiome reached £408,000 in the first three months of 2020, up from £40,000 for the same period in 2019.

OptiBiotix signed nine commercial agreements in its first quarter, with a further four deals since then, making a total of 13 agreements for the year to date.

Stephen O’Hara, CEO of OptiBiotix, said: “The first three months of this year have seen strong commercial progress with OptiBiotix extending its geographic reach and brand presence into 119 countries.

"With more agreements generating revenues, and a greater number of deals generating income in the first year of agreement, we have seen a large increase in revenues (928 per cent) when compared to the same period last year, albeit against a low base."

He said the firm anticipates further revenue growth in 2020 as existing deals contribute to full year revenues, it extends the application of its products into new areas, and itexecutes deals with new partners.

"We believe interest in the microbiome will continue to grow and the market opportunity will increase and look forward to building a sustainable and profitable business,” he added.

The group said the preliminary revenue figures show that divisions are making progress against their aim of being profitable this year with the functional fibres division, led by Dr Fred Narbel, reporting a profit during the first quarter.

Each division now reports weekly invoiced sales and a sales prospect pipeline, which provides a real time assessment of commercial progress. The company said progress is variable across each division and it will be working with all divisions to support them in the aim of each division reaching profitability this year.

The firm cautioned investors that at this stage of a company’s development, both costs and income can vary widely month to month and the company is not yet at a stage where it believes quarterly or half yearly income figures can be extrapolated to full year results.

The 13 new deals include nine for SlimBiome and four for LPLDL. The company now has 40 of its 62 deals delivering revenues, with 70 per cent of deals expected to deliver revenues in the first year of agreement, compared with 35 per cent in 2019, and 33 per cent in 2018.