Cambridge Nutritional Sciences Reports H1 2025 Results: Margin Improvement Offsets Sales Decline

Cambridge Nutritional Sciences H1 2025: Gross Margins Push Higher While Sales Slip

I’m Josh Thompson. Here’s my take on Cambridge Nutritional Sciences’ unaudited half-year results for the six months to 30 September 2025. It’s a mixed picture: revenue is down, but margins continue to move the right way and adjusted EBITDA remains positive.

The headline: sales cycles are slower than hoped – especially in mainland Europe and the Americas – but operational execution is strong, and the business is doubling down on sales discipline with a fresh structure.

Key numbers at a glance

Metric	H1 FY25/26	H1 2025 (prior period)
Revenue	£3.9m	£4.1m
Gross margin	67.7%	65.4%
Adjusted EBITDA	£0.1m	£0.2m
Loss before tax	£0.4m	£0.2m
Cash balance (period end)	£3.6m	£4.5m
Basic and diluted EPS	(0.2)p	(0.1)p

What’s driving the performance?

Regional split: UK and India up, Europe and Americas softer

• UK sales grew 6% year on year, and India rose 33% in sterling (over 40% in local currency), helped by tighter control of labs and sales teams in those markets.
• Mainland Europe saw weaker orders, notably in France, Poland and Hungary. The Americas also slowed, with US laboratories taking longer to commercialise FoodPrint.
• Total revenue fell 6.6% to £3.9m as existing distributors ordered lower volumes and new customers took longer to place meaningful orders.

Product mix: FoodPrint steadier, Food Detective under pressure

• FoodPrint revenue decreased 7% to £2.4m.
• Food Detective revenue fell 23% to £0.6m.
• CNS Lab and other sales rose 8% to £0.9m, underscoring the benefit of in-house testing capacity and direct-to-consumer/partner channels.

Operations: productivity is lifting margin

Gross profit was £2.6m with a gross margin of 67.7%, up 2.3 percentage points. Management attributes this to better production yields and a richer mix of higher-margin FoodPrint tests. Productivity in CNS Lab remains high, with FoodPrint yields “continuing their improvement”.

In plain English: despite lower sales, each pound of revenue is dropping more profit into the pot before overheads. That’s evidence the manufacturing and lab improvements are real.

Costs and EBITDA: investment weighing near term

Overheads rose 4% to £2.6m, reflecting investment in sales, marketing and leadership teams. Adjusted EBITDA came in at £0.1m, down from £0.2m a year ago, and the loss before tax widened to £0.4m. Exceptional items of £0.1m relate to compensation for loss of office and share-related payments.

Cash and capex: still funded, but H2 cash will step down

Cash at 30 September 2025 was £3.6m, down from £4.9m at the March year-end. The reduction was driven by working capital outflows (£0.7m), capital expenditure (£0.4m) and financing activities (£0.1m).

Capex is purposeful: a new FoodPrint manufacturing machine, a new Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS), website work and IVDR development. Management guides that cash will decline in H2 as investment continues, but says the Group has “more than sufficient working capital” to execute its strategy.

Sales reset: a sharper commercial engine

The biggest operational change sits in sales. CNS has split customer service, acquisition and customer success away from the core sales function. The aim is simple – let sales focus on signing new distributors and labs, while specialist teams onboard accounts, manage stock and support ordering to drive repeat usage. Headcount additions look modest (one or two roles).

This is a sensible move for a business with a growing pipeline but elongated conversion times. It should create clearer accountability and more consistent customer experience, especially in overseas regions where execution can be uneven.

New product: Gut Detective gets a UK launch

In August, CNS launched Gut Detective for UK practitioners – a comprehensive stool biomarker panel covering inflammation, digestive enzymes and intestinal permeability. Tests are CE-marked and analysed in CNSLab. It is early days, UK-only for now, but it broadens the test menu and leans into the Group’s lab strengths.

Outlook: lower full-year sales, margin resilient, EBITDA positive target

• Full-year revenue is now expected to be modestly lower than last year as new customer sales cycles prove longer and some regions order less.
• Gross margin is expected to hold at the improved level, with adjusted EBITDA profitability for the full year targeted – contingent on tight cost control.
• H2 cash will decline as capex continues, but management states the Company is well-funded to deliver on its plan.
• Catalysts: converting the growing pipeline, US lab commercialisation of FoodPrint, and traction from the restructured sales set-up. IVDR progress and Gut Detective adoption are additional levers.

Why this update matters

For investors, this is about execution in distribution-heavy markets. The UK and India show that when CNS controls the route-to-market, demand can grow nicely. Elsewhere, the Company is reliant on partner momentum – and that has been patchy. The restructure is designed to fix that structural issue.

On the plus side, the 67.7% gross margin is a real asset. It gives CNS more room to invest, supports pricing flexibility in competitive markets, and should flow through as sales recover. The risk is near-term: slower top-line, higher operating costs, and ongoing capex mean cash will step down in H2.

My view: credible foundations, prove-it phase on sales

I’d call this a steady-but-frustrating half. Operational performance is strong and margins are trending up – that’s the bedrock. The weak spots are Europe and the Americas, where sell-through remains the swing factor. If the new sales structure accelerates conversion and improves distributor performance, the model should show operating leverage quite quickly given the high gross margin.

Near-term expectations are sensibly reset: lower full-year sales, but a push to keep adjusted EBITDA positive. With £3.6m of cash and targeted capex, there is runway to execute – but H2 delivery and order momentum will need to be watched closely.

What to watch into H2

• Order trends in mainland Europe and the Americas – are volumes recovering?
• US lab onboarding for FoodPrint – any tangible commercial start dates or first orders.
• Repeat usage metrics from existing customers under the new customer success function.
• Gross margin sustainability around the 67% to 68% mark as volumes shift.
• Cash movement versus guidance, including capex cadence and working capital unwinds.
• Early signals from Gut Detective uptake in the UK practitioner channel.

Investor presentation and materials

Management presents today at 16:00 GMT on the Investor Meet Company platform. You can register here: Investor Meet Company. The slide deck will also be posted on the CNS website: cnsplc.com/financials/presentations.