Covid-19 test supplier Abingdon suffers heavy losses amid stock price crash
Abingdon Health, one of the UK’s major suppliers of Covid-19 lateral flow kits, has suffered heavy losses as the pandemic retreats out of the country.
The London-listed diagnostic test provider had its revenue plunge to £2.8m in the year to the end of June, from £11.6m in the same period a year prior.
Losses swelled by more than £14m in 12-months, as the company had the company entered a legal battle with the government over an unpaid contract for lateral flow tests.
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) paid out £6.3m in cash in July this year as part of the agreed settlement.
CEO Chris Yates had warned investors in August of the health firm’s fast-shrinking gains, having previously been a beneficiary of the pandemic – which prompted a more than 20 per cent share price plunge at the time.
The company has lost over 80 per cent of its stock value in the past year.
“The last two years within the lateral flow market have been dominated by Covid-19 with little other contract development activity being undertaken by customers or prospective customers,” said Yates.
“A great deal of our own focus has been spent on successfully resolving unwarranted legal challenges which were an unwelcome distraction and a significant use of our time and resources.”