Tristel cleans up with half-year results

The price of shares in AIM-listed infection prevention specialist Tristel (LON:TSTL) climbed by 11.14% to 439p (as of 11:15 GMT) after revenues for the six months ended 31st December climbed by 22%. Profits before tax were up by 27%, aided by an improvement in gross margins.

CEO Paul Swinney commented: “Sales growth in our UK hospital division, which accounts for 86% of all UK sales, was up by 16% half-on-half. NHS stock building in preparation for a no deal Brexit did not influence these results. Two-thirds of the growth in UK hospital sales can be attributed to higher numbers of disinfection procedures across all the clinical areas we target, and one-third to product pricing. Moreover, overseas sales continued to increase at a very healthy rate of 30%. This growth was largely attributable to the establishment (through acquisition) of direct operations in Belgium, Netherlands, France and Italy.

“We continue to advance our USA regulatory project and have received further helpful guidance from the FDA to enable us to progress the compilation of our submission dossier.

“The development of our Board continues. Dr Bruno Holthof took over the Chair from Paul Barnes at our December AGM.

“We are currently experiencing Covid-19. This viral outbreak, together with the ever-present threat of anti-microbial resistance, will be a powerful influence on global healthcare systems for greater investment in infection prevention and control. As a globally recognised infection prevention brand, with some of the world’s best-known disinfection technology, there are significant macro factors that will support Tristel’s continued progress“.