Life sciences company Malin’s losses widen as revenue soars

Dublin-listed company reports €36.1 million pretax loss for first six months of 2016

Malin has invested more than €313 million across 16 life sciences companies since it was established early last year.

Malin, the Irish-based life sciences company set up by a number of former Elan executives last year, reported a €36.1 million pretax loss for the six months ending June 30th.

This marks a 35 per cent rise on the €26.7 million net loss recorded in the first half of 2015.

Overall, the company announced a €50.2 million comprehensive loss, up 79 per cent compared with the €28 million loss recorded for the same period last year.

Revenue soared from €2.5 million to €22.5 million over the reporting period, an increase of 800 per cent.

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Malin, which has invested more than €313 million across 16 life sciences companies since it was established, secured a €70 million, seven-year debt facility from the European Investment Bank in June. The group said it drew down the first €10 million tranche at the end of July.

Flotation

The company, which was established early last year to invest in privately held life science assets, raised €330 million from international investors in its debut on the Irish Stock Exchange in March 2015 in one of Europe's largest life science initial public offerings.

Malin’s consolidated balance of cash and cash equivalents at the end of June was €60.4 million, which included €27.2 million held by its investee subsidiary companies and €33.2 million held by the group and direct corporate subsidiaries.

The company said Malin and its various operating subsidiaries had incurred operating expenses of €43.8 million in the first half.

Malin reported a loss before tax of €9.6 million, with revenue from its various investments amounting to €2.5 million in its maiden set of results, published last September.

The company's investments to date include a 31 per cent stake in human therapeutics company Poseida, while its biggest deal to date has been a $80 million (€70 million) investment in the British biotech firm Immunocore.

“Year-to-date Malin equity has outperformed healthcare indices by up to 50 per cent,” said chief executive Kelly Martin.

“We continue to be impressed with the amount of asset opportunities that exist within the life science space. Through a prudent balance of risk/reward and capital management we will continue to explore opportunities within unique assets or circumstances that unfold as our Malin journey continues,” he added.

Charlie Taylor

Charlie Taylor

Charlie Taylor is a former Irish Times business journalist