Blis shares jump as earnings beat expectations

Blis Technologies says annual revenue and earnings beat guidance as the probiotics consumer products maker registered strong order growth in the March quarter.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation were almost $850,000 in the year ended March 31, turning around an ebitda-loss of $422,000 a year earlier. Revenue rose to $8.3 million from $5.3 million, and Blis said pre-tax profit was about $350,000.

The Dunedin-based biotech company said the figures are subject to audit and will be formally released in late May. They beat guidance for annual sales in excess of $7 million, ebtida of at least $600,000 and a small pre-tax surplus.

"The revisions are as a result of strong orders from all markets including Australasia, Asia, Europe and North America," chief executive Brian Watson said in a statement. "Significant additional orders were filled in the last week of March to meet the Australian launch announced last week."

The shares jumped 33 percent, or 0.6 of a cent, to 2.4 cents.

Last week, the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration said the firm's probiotic strain Streptococcus salivarius BLIS M18 has been approved as an active ingredient for Listed Complementary Medicines.

Blis's probiotic oral health products are available in more than 5,000 Australian pharmacies. Watson said the firm had received a positive response with large orders filled late in the quarter to meet demand.

"These orders will be captured in our FY19 result and we expect to also see a significant positive impact on financial performance for the new financial year," he said.

Blis has a distribution relationship with iNova Pharmaceuticals, and has started early work on expanding into new Asian and African markets.

"Early evaluation of priority markets has begun, however, timing will be dependent on market factors including regulatory requirements," Watson said.