Novacyt sales up tenfold amid battle to beat Covid

BEING a fast mover in the battle to beat Covid has paid off for

Novacyt, a biotechnology tiddler listed on AIM that few retail investors had heard of at the start of the year.

Things have changed dramatically since then, after the French group’s Southampton-based subsidiary, Primerdesign, developed one of the world’s first coronavirus tests in January.

Rocketing sales of the tests swung the company into profit of £37m between January and June, compared with a first-half loss of £1.8m last year.

Group revenue was up tenfold to £66m as the company benefited from securing dozens of deals and regulatory approvals from the likes of the EU, the US and the United Nations.

Primerdesign’s turnover was around 2,000pc higher.

As well as financial benefits, which have allowed Novacyt to pay off its debts, the company said the Covid- 19 tests has ‘resulted in an increased customer base and a reputation for innovation and high performance of our products’.

It has avoided becoming a onetrick pony by developing several other products and is working on more – particularly in the area of in vitro diagnostics.

Shares in the group rose 2.7pc, or 10p, to 380p – and are up by 2823pc so far this year.

IG Group is among a group of companies, online trading platforms, which have benefited from the stock market mayhem triggered by Covid.

Yesterday IG reported revenues rose 62pc to £209m in the three months to August 31 compared with the same period last year.

In the most recent quarter, which is the first of its financial year, the FTSE 250-listed group increased its active users by 50pc to 201,500, it said in an update.

IG’s shares climbed 6pc, or 47.5p, to 837p.

But things were gloomier on the wider stock market, with the FTSE 100 falling by 0.5pc, or 28.56 points, to 6049.92 and the

FTSE 250 edging 0.3pc lower, down 57.54 points, to 17737.72.

Banks pulled the Footsie lower after talk of possible negative interest rates made traders nervous. The Bank of England has held off on making any changes for now – but CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said just the mention of it was enough to spark a slide for the lenders, sending

Natwest (down 3pc, or 3.05p, to 100.05p), Barclays (2.4pc lower, or 2.42p, to 100.54p), HSBC (down 2pc, or 6.2p, to 310.8p) and Lloyds

Banking Group (down 1.2pc, or 0.33p, to 26.26p) lower.

Takeover target G4S completed the latest segment of the sale of its cash handling business to American firm The Brink’s Group

– selling its Baltics business for around £49m. The security group, whose shares rose 4.3pc, or 7.9p, to 190.9p, is fighting off a £3bn hostile takeover approach from Canada’s Garda World – though G4S pointed out that the sale strengthens its finances. Elsewhere on the mid-cap index,

Domino’s Pizza rose slightly, finishing up 0.4pc, or 1.2p, to 345.6p, after one of its non- executive directors bought a £207,000 slice of stock. Lynn Fordham bought 60,000 shares in two transactions this week, according to a stock market filing, to coincide with taking up her place on the takeaway group’s board and several of its committees.

Kier Group racked up an eyewatering £226m loss as the pandemic hammered the construction firm, costing it around £45m, and sending revenues 15pc lower to £3.4bn.

But this was better than anticipated – with relieved investors sending its shares up 12.1pc, or 6.6pc, to 61.35p by the close.