The global medical devices industry is in a state of flux after President Trump imposed tariffs on 'Liberation Day' for all goods imported into the US.
Fortunately, a 90-day reprieve has since been announced cutting the worst of the reciprocal tariffs to 10% (excluding China that remains at 145%), which has offered some respite for healthcare companies.
Better still, there also appears to be a lower 20% rate for Chinese-made medical products (re HTSUS* 9019.20.00) classified as providing "Ozone, oxygen and aerosol therapy, artificial respiration or other therapeutic respiration apparatus, including parts and accessories thereof".
Encouraging news for Belluscura (BELL) - a developer of portable oxygen concentrators (POCs) used to treat respiratory conditions like COPD - that manufactures a large portion of its US-bound POCs, components, and sub-assemblies in China via its partner Innomax.
Moreover, despite the uncertainty, BELL's current trading is said to be "satisfactory", with Q1'25 sales coming in at $912k vs $166k in Q1'24. This should be further bolstered by the recent launch of the new X-PLOR 5 (weighing <4lbs), alongside the next-generation DISCOV-R in Q3'25.
Clearly cash remains a little tight, since at 15th April Belluscura had $1.1m of available funds, $0.6m of debt and an est $9.6m of convertible loan notes.
Looking ahead, the Board "continues to evaluate additional long-term opportunities to reduce tariff and production costs, such as manufacturing and sourcing components from alternative jurisdictions."
Plus, CFO Simon J. Neicheril has chosen to take up a new position outside the group and will leave on 2nd May, with Chairman Paul Tuson (ACA) temporarily taking over the financial reins.
Paul Tuson commenting: "Trading in the period since completing share placing in February [£4.7m gross at 2p/share] has been satisfactory. The prospects for Q2’25 are encouraging, despite the uncertainties surrounding the recent imposition of US tariffs. The Company continues to monitor the seemingly fluid position of US tariffs and is actively seeking to minimise adverse implications to the Company and the users of its POC products based in the US."
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