Half-year highlights: GTG, Ambri, Iatia

Genetic Technologies' (ASX: GTG) increased loss, as reported in the company's half-year results last week, was in part due to changes in accounting required for the company's upcoming listing on the US Nasdaq market through the level 2 ADR program, executive chairman Dr Mervyn Jacobson said today.

The company posted a loss of AUD$5.1 million for the first two quarters of the fiscal year, up more than 200 per cent on the $1.7 million reported for the same period last year. Revenues were also down 49 per cent to $2.5 million.

"Timing is part of it, and part of it is going onto Nasdaq and getting our accounts to mirror each other in both countries," Jacobson said. "It's more stringent [in the US] than would be typical for a company complying only with Australian regulations."

But Jacobson said he was comfortable with the results, noting that the company was on track with its long-term strategy.

The company has licensed its non-coding DNA mapping and analysis patents to 17 companies, research institutions and other organisations to date, and has started to engage with larger corporations in addition to the mid-size companies that have been the major target to date, he said.

"Given that we have an ongoing lawsuit with Applera, the tendency is for some people to say 'let's wait and see what happens,' and defer securing a license," Jacobson said.

In the meantime, GTG is expanding its genetic testing business and research activities, following last August's capital raising, which put $10 million in the company's coffers. The priorities for the remainder of the fiscal year include the completion of the Nasdaq listing process, which is expected to occur before the middle of the year, and continued efforts to secure licenses for GTG's patents.

The company will also continue to aggressively pursue its lawsuit with Applera, Jacobson said.

Jacobson said the company expected steady growth, punctuated with significant transactions.

Ambri

Ambri (ASX:ABI) has halved its operating expenses in the first half of the 2003-2004 fiscal year, spending $5 million in the first two quarters compared with $9.5 million in the comparable period last year.

"When the new management took over in March last year, we reviewed everything and restructured the company accordingly," said CEO Jonathan Wright. "Then we put together our business plan based on what we required to get us to market."

The company raised $22.5 million through private placements and a share purchase plan for existing investors, and stands to raise more through the exercise of options over the next 18 months.

And the development of the company's technology platform took a front seat as the company implemented a plan to achieve commercially viable technology (CVT) by the end of this fiscal year. Ambri is currently ramping up manufacturing in its pilot facility to produce 75 cartridges per day prior to external evaluation and validation of the technology.

"The previous management thought it would get to market much quicker, and focused on marketing and sales. We're now much more technology focused -- the market wanted to see tangible progress," Wright said.

The company is looking at strategic options for maximising opportunities from its biosensor technology platform, including licensing capabilities in areas outside the niche point-of-care application currently under development. There is also potential for the technology to be combined with other platforms.

"We're too small to fight the big companies," said Wright. "The critical thing is to get the technology to a state where it is scalable in a cost-effective manner and broadly applicable."

Iatia

Microscopy technology developer Iatia (ASX:IAT) is hanging on by its fingertips, after reducing its loss from $2.2 million in the first quarter of the 2002-2003 fiscal year to $695,000 in the present year.

But CEO Brian Powell said the company was breathing easier, with a number of initiatives in the pipeline that were giving them more confidence. "I think we've turned the corner, it's been a tough year but a fruitful one," he said.

Expected sales have been "disappointingly slow" despite the widening market for the company's phase imaging products. And Iatia's deal with Bio-Rad Asia Pacific, which has a three-year contract to package the company's QPm phase imaging software into its confocal microscopes, has borne little fruit to date. "We're hoping for growth in sales with Bio-Rad this year, especially in the Asian market," Powell said. The company is also waiting to hear whether it will receive defence department funding, likely to be decided in this year's federal budget, and is exploring opportunities for involvement with other groups.

"There is also growing academic interest in what we can do, for example, automation of certain processes," said Powell.

Powell said he was confident that the company would pull through despite its tight cash position.