Derbyshire-based Light Science Technologies Holdings (LSTH), comprising three divisions: controlled environment agriculture (CEA); contract electronics manufacturing (CEM) and passive fire protection (PFP), has hailed “significant progress” in a trading update for the six months ended 31 May 2024.
Revenue for the period is anticipated to be £5.2m, up by approximately 19.3% year-on-year, with consistent growth through all divisions of the business.
Meanwhile, trading is expected to be reported as EBITDA positive (H1 2023: £494,000 EBITDA loss), with comparative group net losses for the period more than halved to £334,000 (H1 2023: loss of £809,000), resulting from an increasingly strong-margin sales mix.
During the period, the business focused on continuing solid momentum achieved during FY 2023, with new orders secured across all three divisions and the firm’s commercial development and pipeline progressing strongly. The group’s total quoted sales pipeline currently amounts to over £47m, with a committed orderbook currently worth nearly £5m.
Simon Deacon, Chief Executive Officer at LSTH, said: “LSTH entered the period with a strong platform for growth and a realigned cost base having successfully navigated considerable global pressures.
“I am delighted to say that from that base we have seen significant progress – with strong revenue growth and a healthy committed order book, which is expected to increase in the coming months, currently worth nearly £5m, underpinning our goal of becoming an operationally self-funded, cash backed, group.
“As such, we are delighted to see a further reduction in losses, with the Company expected to report a positive EBITDA during the Period, for the first time in its history.
“The addition of Dr Graham Cooley and Richard Mills to our Board has given us an enormous pool of experience from which we can draw and has already had an impact on both our sales pipeline and corporate activity.
“In conjunction, we’ve seen improving performances across our divisions. PFP is now adding meaningful revenues, CEM has expanded into new markets, and CEA is strengthening through international partnerships and Tomtech revenues, more of which will also be recognised in H2.
“We aim to continue this trend and build on the strong start we’ve seen to the second half of our financial year. The Board expects to see continued momentum in PFP and CEM, and further international expansion of the CEA division.”
