Biome Australia posts its first profit as three-year growth plan runs ahead of schedule

Melbourne-based microbiome health company Biome Australia has eked out a maiden profit in the first half of FY25 as the company declares it is running ahead of schedule in its three-year strategy to deliver cumulative revenue of up to $85 million by 2027.

The $96,228 net profit might be small, but it’s a major milestone for Biome which was founded in 2018 by Blair Norfolk and has expanded its operations into four countries.

The bottom-line result for the six months to the end of December swells to $433,395 when including research and development rebates.

Biome’s earnings were supported by record revenue of $8.86 million in the half year, up 47.4 per cent from a year earlier, with limited contribution from its newly established Canadian operations.

“The first half of the financial year 2025 has been a remarkable six months for Biome,” says Norfolk, the managing director of Biome Australia.

“The milestones, momentum and scale throughout this period have set the business up well for ongoing success.”

In September last year, Norfolk revealed a three-year plan to transform Biome from an ASX microcap company into a “major player in the Australian and global complementary medicine markets”.

The company’s Vision 27 plan has targeted cumulative revenue of between $75 million and $85 million over the next three financial years, which compares with the $13 million the company achieved in FY24.

“On a number of metrics Biome is ahead of schedule in the execution of the Vision 27 strategic plan,” says Norfolk.

“After another two quarters of positive EBITDA, the business has announced its maiden net profit, a major achievement.

“I look forward to what is ahead for Biome and sharing further updates on our exciting journey to become one of the highest impact and scalable business in the global probiotic and complementary medicine space.”

Biome Australia produces and markets a range of live probiotics that help prevent and support the management of health concerns, including low mood and sleep, bone health and cholesterol.

While Australia is Biome’s primary market with a footprint of 6,000 pharmacy and practitioner distribution points, up 20 per cent from a year ago, the company is also making headway in the UK and Canada.

The company launched its Activated Probiotics range in Canada in November via distribution partner Ecotrend Ecologics and today it reports that initial product acceptance has been “very strong” which has led Biome to secure a number of its own sales and education staff to maintain the momentum.

Biome has also reported a solid growth performance in its other international markets of UK, Ireland and New Zealand.

Early last year, Biome announced its first retail distribution agreement in the UK and Ireland ahead of a proposed broader push into Europe where Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg and France are in its sights.

During the half, Biome launched its cholesterol lowering probiotic Biome Cholesterol, a clinical-backed product that the company says has generated positive feedback from both the trade and patients.

 A double blind, placebo-controlled 12-week trial produced a 14 per cent decrease in total cholesterol, opening what the company says is an opportunity for the Biome Cholesterol Probiotic to potentially be used as an adjunct alongside statins which are generally prescribed for cholesterol treatment.

“For people who don’t tolerate statins therapy, Biome Cholesterol Probiotic will provide physicians with an additional therapeutic option to help manage the cholesterol levels of these patients,” says the company.

The Biome Australia business benefits from healthy gross margins which stood at 61 per cent for the six months to 31 December 2024.

The company says the launch of its Activated Therapeutics product range in the current half-year will take Biome’s product portfolio “beyond probiotics into gut health adjacent health”.

Biome is preparing final plans to launch its new brand and says it will share the product range and health targets in the fourth quarter of this financial year.