SkinBioTherapeutics FY25 restatement: what the Board investigation actually found
This is a serious RNS from SkinBioTherapeutics, and investors should treat it that way. The company has published unaudited half-year results for the six months to 31 December 2025, but the big story is the conclusion of a Board investigation into the conduct of its former CEO and the accuracy of the FY25 accounts.
The headline finding is blunt. An accrued royalty revenue figure of £0.77 million was inappropriately recognised in FY25, and documentation used to support that revenue was identified by FRP Advisory as fabricated by the former CEO. The company says no evidence has been identified to indicate that anyone else was involved or aware of the fabrication.
That matters because revenue quality matters more than revenue quantity. A growth stock can survive weak sales for a while, but trust in reported numbers is the bedrock. When that trust is shaken, the market usually marks the shares down hard until confidence is rebuilt.
SkinBioTherapeutics restated FY25 results: the key numbers investors need to know
| Metric | Previously reported FY25 | Restated FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | £4.64 million | £3.87 million |
| Adjusted EBITDA | Loss of £0.41 million | Loss of £1.40 million |
| Operating result | Loss of £1.12 million | Loss of £2.13 million |
| Cash at 30 June 2025 | £4.78 million | £4.78 million |
The good news, if there is some, is that the investigation did not find problems with reported cash balances. That is hugely important. Fake cash is the nightmare scenario. SkinBio says cash was unaffected and remained £4.78 million at 30 June 2025.
There were also other accounting issues around the award, payment and timing of bonuses and associated consultancy payments in FY24 and FY25. Bonuses paid to Martin Hunt and Dr Cathy Prescott have been voluntarily repaid, and that will be reflected in FY26.
Even so, this is still a proper governance failure. The company itself says weaknesses in corporate governance and processes were evident. That is corporate language for controls not being good enough.
Underlying HY26 trading before the disruption was better than the governance mess suggests
One useful nuance here is timing. The half-year period ended on 31 December 2025, while the CEO suspension and resignation happened in February 2026. So the HY26 numbers largely show how the business was trading before the investigation chaos took hold.
| HY26 performance | 31 Dec 2025 | 31 Dec 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | £2.17 million | £1.58 million |
| Gross profit | £1.20 million | £0.88 million |
| Gross margin | 55.6% | 55.7% |
| Operating loss | £1.00 million | £1.03 million |
| Cash and cash equivalents | £3.1 million | £1.2 million |
Revenue rose 37.4% to £2.17 million, which is a decent step up. Gross margins held steady at 55.6%, and the operating loss narrowed slightly to £1.00 million. That tells you the core trading picture was improving, even if only modestly.
Segmentally, Bio-Tech Solutions did the heavy lifting. BTS delivered £1.2 million of revenue, up from £0.4 million in HY25, reflecting a full six months of trading and what the company described as good growth.
Dermatonics was solid rather than spectacular, with revenue of £0.98 million versus £1.0 million. AxisBiotix sales were £172,000 against £133,000 a year earlier, with both product lines now launched in more than 180 Superdrug stores.
Cash position, investigation costs and why SkinBioTherapeutics still has work to do
The balance sheet is not broken, but investors should watch cash closely. Cash and cash equivalents were £3.1 million at 31 December 2025, then £1.5 million at 31 May 2026.
That drop is not trivial. Some of it will reflect normal trading, and the company also says investigation costs have reached about £0.7 million. The Board says it will pursue recovery of those costs and any other losses through ongoing legal proceedings, but there is no guarantee on timing or outcome.
The company states it has adequate resources for the foreseeable future and continues to prepare accounts on a going concern basis. That is reassuring, but I would not ignore the cash trend. Until new market guidance is issued later in the year, investors are still operating with limited visibility.
Management upheaval, AIM share trading restoration and a needed governance reset
There has been a lot of boardroom movement here. Rachel Parsonage has been appointed Interim CEO, Alyson Levett is now Interim Chair, and Emily Bertram is CFO and on the Board. Martin Hunt and Dr Cathy Prescott have both stepped down from the Board today.
One point worth highlighting is the company’s praise for CFO Emily Bertram, who identified and escalated the issues to the Board. In a mess like this, that kind of internal challenge function matters. It suggests the finance team may now be part of the solution rather than part of the problem.
The company has also changed auditor, with Saffery LLP appointed on 28 May 2026 to replace Gravita LLP. The restated FY25 financial statements will be audited as part of the FY26 process, which should help put a cleaner line under the numbers.
Trading in the shares on AIM has been restored from 7:30 am today following publication of the interim results. That removes one overhang, but it does not remove the credibility discount overnight.
SkinBioTherapeutics outlook: positives, negatives and what retail investors should focus on next
There are real positives here. The company says no other revenue issues were identified beyond the £0.77 million accrued royalty error. Cash balances were confirmed. Dermatonics is trading steadily, BTS is growing strongly, AxisBiotix has expanded distribution, and Zenakine is still progressing commercially with Croda and has picked up an industry award.
There are also clear negatives. Fabricated revenue support is about as ugly as it sounds. Governance was weak, the investigation has been disruptive, legal costs are meaningful, and cash has continued to come down since the period end.
My view is that this RNS does two things at once. It clears away a major uncertainty by quantifying the accounting damage, but it also confirms shareholders were right to worry. That makes this more of a rebuilding story than a simple recovery story.
For retail investors, the next checkpoints are straightforward:
- whether new market guidance is credible and detailed
- whether cash stabilises after the investigation costs
- whether partner relationships, especially with Croda and Superdrug, remain intact
- whether the promised governance improvements are visible in the next annual report
- whether underlying growth in BTS, Dermatonics and AxisBiotix continues despite the disruption
In short, SkinBioTherapeutics has not announced a business collapse. But it has admitted a serious governance failure and a material overstatement of FY25 revenue. The shares may get some relief from trading restoration and the fact that cash was real, yet trust now needs to be earned back the hard way – with clean accounts, better controls and steady commercial delivery.
