Newish listed pathology group Australian Clinical Labs (ACL) has, like its bigger rival Sonic, enjoyed a very good Covid lockdown testing boom.
The company, which only listed on the ASX in May told the market yesterday that it was upgrading its prospectus forecasts for revenue and profits for the first half of its 2022 financial year.
Based on trading to date, Australian Clinical Labs upgraded its total revenue and net profit after tax (NPAT) forecasts. Total revenue of between $398.1 million and $414.0 million, representing between 29.5% and 34.7% upgrade to prospectus forecast of $307.4 million.
Net profit after tax (NPAT) is now forecast to be between $63.7 and $70.0 million, representing between 177.9% and 205.6% upgrade to prospectus forecast of $22.9 million.
Australian Clinical Labs noted that the continued strong demand for Covid testing and the resilience of the rest of its business has driven the need for the upgrade.
The company noted that the new forecasts for the first half reflect continued expansion in its margins.
And the company also made it clear the upgrades had factored in a reduction in Covid testing from October as double-vaxx levels rise towards and past 80% on NSW and Victoria and the ACT.
The company noted that non-COVID sales growth had begun to normalise.
Since listing in may the shares in the company have soared more than 36%.
The shares were down more than 2% at one stage before climbing back to end down just 0.2% at $4.68.
That wasn’t a bad performance on a day when the ASX 200 slumped 1.47%.
