Healthy results for medical kit maker

Apr 2 2008 by Peter McCusker, The Journal

MEDICAL testing kit maker IDS says it is on target to quadruple sales to around £40m by 2010 after its latest trading update showed sales had risen by 90% in the last year.

The South Tyneside-based company has entered top gear since floating on the Alternative Investment Market in 2004, and in the financial year ending March 31, 2008, expects turnover to almost double to £19m, it said yesterday.

The figures for the last financial year were boosted by the acquisition of French firm Biocode Hycel for £15.5m and Scandinavian group Nordic Bioscience Diagnostics for £17m.

Managing director Dr Roger Duggan said: “The sky is the limit for the business. Within the next two years I expect to see turnover rise to £40m.

“We are still looking for opportunities and the difficulties in the market at the moment can create opportunities for a company like ourselves.”

Immunodiagnostic Systems Limited (IDS) has been in business since 1981 as a manufacturer of medical diagnostic kits for the early detection of bone diseases and cancer. It also helps speed tests on the MRSA superbug.

Yesterday’s trading update said turnover up to March 31, 2008 was expected to be 90% up on last year’s figure of £9.9m.

It continued: “Costs remain well under control and trading in all of the group’s main territories has increased year on year as well as across the group’s key products. Sales into both the USA and France have seen significant growth this year.”

Dr Duggan expects one of the major drivers for growth in the coming years will be provided by the products it acquired with the purchase of Biocode Hycel.

These allow hospital laboratories to conduct automated tests – where previously they would have been conducted by hand.

IDS, based on Boldon Business Park, has had major successes in the Chinese, Japanese and Australian markets.

The company yesterday also announced it had signed a partnership agreement with Hyphen BioMed of France which would allow IDS’ sales force access to a further 20 products.

Last year’s acquisitions added a further 80 staff to the company’s payroll and the total workforce at its Boldon home has risen from 50 to 60 in recent months, with more staff expected to join as it continues to grow. IDS’s progress met with approval from the City, with shares finishing the day up 3%, rising 5.5p to 179p.