About LGC
Financial results
Financial highlights 2006-2007
LGC Group Holdings plc exceeded the milestone of being a £100m
company, confirming its position as a successful and highly
respected international group. Assisted by acquisitions, reaching
£101m for the first time represents an increase of 18% on last
year’s Group results of £85.9m.
International growth
The proportion of the Group's international turnover now stands
at 28%, reflecting its strong base in Germany, France and elsewhere
in Europe as well as with its joint venture in India.
Impact of UK forensic services market
Operating profit before exceptional items and
EBITDA
at £6.5m and £12.5m respectively are less than
reported last year. Profitability for this year has been eroded in
the forensics area of our business. Although LGC Forensics, which
represents nearly 40% of Group turnover, experienced temporary
disruptions in the UK forensic services market for police forces,
there are major opportunities for profitable growth in the future.
These include the expansion of forensic provision in other European
countries such as in Germany where LGC has won new work and is
building a reputation for the quality and speed of its forensic and
paternity DNA results.
Highlights of the past year include:
- LGC Forensics assistance in solving thousands of crimes. High
profile forensic examinations led to successful convictions in the
tragic murder of Damilola Taylor.
- The launch of LGC Standards which brings together our reference
materials distribution, proficiency testing, pharmaceutical
reference materials production and analytical quality training,
into a single division, with new sales offices in Hungary, Ireland
and North America. Investment in our pharmaceutical reference
materials production facilities in Luckenwalde, including an
NMR
system, has
complemented pharmaceutical and chemical analytical capabilities at
Runcorn.
- The award of a new BSE testing contract in a continuation of
our service to Defra in which LGC has tested in excess of 1.4
million brainstem samples since 2001.
- The acquisition of a paternity testing business, Labor für
Hämogenetik, based in Baden-Baden, Germany and the move of the
Institut für Blutgruppenforschung LGC GmbH to the BIOcenter
Technologiepark Köln, the largest science park in Cologne.
- The launch of a gunshot discharge residues service using
scanning electron microscope (SEM) technology to detect inorganic
particles down to half a micron.
- A memorandum of understanding to collaborate on reference
materials and food analysis with the National Institute of
Metrology, China.
- An agreement to provide veterinary drugs testing for the
Government of Malta.
- Widespread recognition for our scientific capability under the
UK Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS)
Chemical and Biological Measurement Programme. For example, LGC’s
Dr Heidi Goenaga Infante, in collaboration with Simon Joel and his
team at St Barts Hospital in London, published a paper in JAAS1 on
the effects of combining selenium compounds with cytotoxic drugs in
cancer therapy (also highlighted in Chemical Biology2 for
progression in the field of organoselenium speciation analysis).
References: (1) J. Anal. At. Spectrom., 2007, 22, 888. (2)
Chemical Biology, 2 Aug 07, Issue 9, Research News.
Download Report and Accounts 2007
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