Celadon Pharmaceuticals (CEL) H1 2023 earnings summary

Executive summary

• Achieved MHRA GMP certification and updated Home Office licence in early 2023, enabling commercial supply of pharmaceutical-grade cannabis and positioning as one of two UK firms with such capabilities.

• Signed two multi-year sales contracts totaling £4.2m, fully contracting Phase 1 grow facility; first shipments expected Q4 2023.

• Commenced commercial cultivation with Phase 1 operational and Phase 2 expansion underway, aligned with strong demand and premium pricing.

• LVL chronic pain trial approved by NHS Ethics Committee for up to 5,000 patients, with positive early patient feedback and potential partnerships.

• Secured £7m credit facility in May 2023 to support liquidity and expansion, with cash balance of £1.6m at June 2023.

Financial highlights

• Revenue of £8k for H1 2023, down from £11k in H1 2022, reflecting early-stage commercialisation; full year 2022 revenue was £24k.

• Operating loss of £3.2m (H1 2022: £2.0m); loss before tax of £4.4m (H1 2022: £13.5m, which included significant one-off items).

• Operating costs for H1 2023 were £2.9m, slightly down from prior periods; gross loss was £26k (H1 2022: £12k).

• Basic and diluted loss per share for H1 2023 was (7.2p) compared to (25.1p) in H1 2022.

• Net assets at 30 June 2023 were £3.0m (30 June 2022: £10.7m).

Outlook and guidance

• Focused on converting expressions of interest into binding sales contracts to support Phase 2 production ramp-up and scaling.

• First shipments from initial sales contracts anticipated in Q4 2023.

• Planning roll-out of LVL chronic pain trial for up to 5,000 patients, including potential partnerships and leveraging positive early data.

• Optimistic on medium- to long-term sector outlook as UK cannabis-based medicines market develops and clinical trial data supports broader adoption.

• £7m credit facility provides financial headroom during expansion.