HVO has delivered an in line trading update. 1H25 revenue is expected to be £24.2m, EBIDTA margin is expected to be c. 12% (1H24, 24%), and cash is expected to be £23.3m (1H24, £37.1m). FY25 revenue guidance of £47m remains unchanged but HVO now expects a low-single digit EBITDA loss (SCMe, £5.8m loss), previous guidance was for a mid-single digit loss. Whilst HVO highlights a substantial pipeline of opportunities, the weighted orderbook stands at c. £40m, significantly lower than 1H24 of £70m. In our view, this confirms that whilst interest in HCTs remain, the CRO/biopharma outlook is still uncertain. Thus, we believe execution risk remains, and we await a more evident recovery in contracts/outlook before reviewing our HOLD recommendation and 17p TP.
