DeepMatter bullish after H1 loss

A Glasgow-based firm focused on fusing chemistry with technology has reported a widening of its first-half loss, mainly on the back of one-off costs related to it buying German software business InfoChem.

The firm says its focus is 'digitising chemistry'. Picture: contributed.

DeepMatter Group, which is quoted on the Alternative Investment Market and says its focus is “digitising chemistry”, racked up a £1.62 million loss after tax in the six months to 30 June, up from a loss of £980,000 12 months previously.

It also said the first period of revenue-generation for the combined group came in at £220,000 having snapped up InfoChem for £2.03m. The deal was announced in December and the integration is “proceeding to plan”.

In terms of operational highlights, DeepMatter noted the appointment of Lauren Lees as finance boss in June, and its equity placing that raised about £4m.

It also said its DigitalGlassware platform, focused on enabling reproducibility in chemistry, has been successfully deployed over about 12 months by seven organisations worldwide.

Chief executive Mark Warne said: “DeepMatter has continued to deliver against its strategic roadmap by reaching several key milestones in the group’s journey. The acquisition of InfoChem and the additions to our team of experts has further enhanced our capabilities.

"We enter the second half of the year with a rapidly expanding pipeline of opportunities that will enable DeepMatter to further deploy our technology and focus on the continued monetisation of the platform. We remain confident about the future and, with a robust strategy in place, look forward to driving our vision and achieving our long-term objectives.”

Shore Capital analyst Martin O’Sullivan called the firm “disruptive”, adding that if it can build commercial traction, “the shares could offer significant upside potential from current levels”.