Oxford Nanopore Technologies PLC on Wednesday said revenue and profit fell in the first half as it came to the end of its Covid-19 testing contract.

The Oxford, England-based company that develops and sells nanopore sequencing products reported that revenue fell by to £86.0 million in the first half ended June 30, from £122.3 million the year prior.

The company said the fall in revenue was largely due to the conclusion of its legacy Covid-19 testing contract with the UK Department of Health & Social Care, which accounted for £51.8 million in revenue in the first half of 2022.

Life Science Research Tools revenue of £86.0 accounted for all of Oxford Nanopore’s revenue in the first half of the year, increasing 22% from £70.6 million in the first half of last year.

The firm said pretax loss widened to £66.6 million, from £27.6 million the year prior. It noted that the first half of 2022 included the income from its Covid testing contract.

Looking ahead, Oxford Nanopore said it expects LSRT revenue to increase between 18% and 25%.

Chief Executive Gordon Sanghera said: ‘We delivered strong performance in the first half, with underlying Life Science Research Tools revenue up 46% on a constant currency basis, as more researchers harnessed our sequencing technology to help find solutions to some of the planet’s most pressing problems.

‘We have invested significantly in innovative new products and platform enhancements, so that customers can benefit from richer, faster and more accessible data wherever they need it. We have also launched important new partnerships and collaborations aimed at opening opportunities in clinical and applied sequencing markets.’

Oxford Nanopore shares fell 5.0% to 219.46 pence each on Wednesday morning in London.

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