22 April 2021
Byotrol plc ("Byotrol" or the "Group")
Trading Update
Byotrol (AIM:BYOT) the specialist infection and prevention control company, is pleased to announce an update on trading.
Results for the year ended 31 March 2021, subject to audit, are expected to be substantially ahead of the previous year and broadly in-line with market expectations. Turnover is expected to be in excess of £11m and adjusted EBITDA over £1.7m (2020: £6.1m and £0.3m respectively).
This strong result reflects the exceptional demand for our technologies across all markets due to the covid19 pandemic, but also a secular shift towards the heightened importance of infection prevention in all our markets, which we expect to continue into the new financial year and beyond.
Revenue for the year will include a contribution of over £0.9m from licensing and intellectual property transactions, including multi-year agreements with material guaranteed minimum sales and/or annual royalty payments. Recent new agreements include:
· Turtle Wax Europe Ltd which has now licensed our long-lasting surface sanitisers in Europe for the automotive market. These are already available in Halfords in the UK, and further launches will take place in Europe once the various national registrations are completed.
· Byoworks (PTY) Ltd in South Africa, a long-standing agent of the Group and now under new professional management. Byoworks has licensed all Byotrol technologies for distribution in sub-Saharan Africa
· Soltech (Solution Technology Qatar, part of the QALCO group of companies) for alcohol-free hand sanitisers in Qatar and the Middle East
Net cash balances at 31 March 2021 were approximately £1.7m (2020: £1.4m). The Group is now debt-free, having paid down an invoice discount facility of £0.3m during the year. We have also invested substantially in stock to quickly and reliably service customers and reduce risk in our own supply chain. At 31 March 2021, Byotrol stock level was around £1.1m, compared to an unusually low £0.3m at 31 March 2020.
Outlook
The Directors remain highly confident in continued growth in our industry, reflecting clear changes in infection-prevention needs and in behaviours across the consumer, corporate and institutional worlds.
This is manifesting in numerous ways, including:
· larger distributors and businesses having to upgrade their understandings of infection prevention strategies and now demanding better-performing, fully data-supported, safe and regulatory-approved infection prevention chemistries. We are very well placed to satisfy those increasing demands and are working on many opportunities in the UK and overseas
· consumers taking more proactive responsibility for protecting individuals against infection risk, leading to sustained demand from retailers and consumer good companies for high performance, regulatory approved anti-microbials.
Market conditions therefore remain very favourable to Byotrol and we expect to be able to announce further licensing and intellectual property agreements this year, across both Professional and Consumer businesses. We expect to announce our final results in July.
John Langlands, Chairman of Byotrol, commented:
"This was a good result, delivered in extraordinary market conditions. We believe that our business is now very well positioned to serve the post-pandemic world.
Our strategy means that Byotrol will deliver further growth and profitability in coming years, and will continue to build on the reliable and increasingly visible income streams it has developed over the last couple of years."
Enquiries:
Byotrol plc
David Traynor - Chief Executive Officer
Nic Hellyer - Chief Financial Officer 01925 742 000
finnCap
Geoff Nash/Kate Bannatyne - Corporate Finance 020 7220 0500
Richard Chambers - ECM
Flagstaff Strategic and Investor Communications 020 7129 1474
Tim Thompson/Andrea Seymour/Fergus Mellon byotrol@flagstaffcomms.com
This announcement is released by Byotrol plc and, prior to publication, the information contained herein was deemed to constitute inside information under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014. Such information is disclosed in accordance with the Company's obligations under Article 17 of MAR.
Financial expectations noted above are preliminary, and subject to year-end financial close and audit review processes.
Notes to Editors:
Byotrol plc (BYOT.L), quoted on AIM, is a specialist infection prevention and control company, operating globally in the Healthcare, Industrial, Food and Consumer sectors, providing low toxicity products with a broad-based and targeted efficacy across all microbial classes; bacteria, viruses, fungi, moulds, mycobacteria and algae.
Byotrol's products can be used stand-alone or as ingredients within existing products, where they can significantly improve their performance, especially in personal hygiene, domestic and industrial disinfection, odour control, food production and food management.
Byotrol develops and commercialises technologies that create easier, safer and cleaner lives for everyone.
For more information, please go to byotrolplc.com
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