Proteus Records First Revenues And Cuts Losses

The past 12 months have been busy for UK drug-discovery company Proteus International. For the year ended March 31, 1996, Proteus achieved revenues of L1.1 million ($1.7 million), the firm's first significant income. Pretax losses were reduced 32% to L5.4 million. The firm's share price went against the market and rose significantly on the news.

Proteus has made a number of notable changes to its business, following a review of operations in the second half of 1994. It now has a new executive team in place; it has also reduced the number of research projects ongoing in order to target areas of greatest commercial opportunity, and it has reduced its staff to 37, compared with 110 two years ago.

The firm also noted that it successfully completed a rights issue raising L9.4 million net of expenses. Milner Laboratories invested L1.5 million in the rights issue, and took an option on the majority of Proteus' shares held by Imseco, the majority shareholder in Proteus.