Sagentia, the outsourced R&D venture chaired by Microgen chairman – and more recently, RM chairman – Martyn Ratcliffe, has turned in its best operating margin in 10 years. Headline revenues for its first half (to 30th June) soared 28% to £12.6m, while a doubling of operating profit lifted operating margins from 11.5% to 17.9%. EPS jumped 21% to 4.6p.
Strictly speaking, Sagentia is not really in ‘our space’ other than for a vestigial managed IT services division (Manage5nines), for which revenues remained essentially flat at £0.4m. But it’s a great entrepreneurial story – especially for investors, who have seen its stock appreciate 60% over the past 12 months. Mind you, even that performance is overshadowed by Microgen, whose shares have doubled over the same period. So, let’s hope that Ratcliffe can also weave his magic on RM, whose profit warning last week (see RM warns on full year) left its stock over 30% down ytd.