02:00 Tue 09 Feb 2021
Symphony Environment - Trading update
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) 596/2014 as it forms part of
SYMPHONY ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGIES PLC
("Symphony", the "Company" or the "Group")
Trading Update
Symphony Environmental Technologies Plc (AIM:SYM) global specialists in supplying and developing technologies that make plastic and rubber products "smarter, safer and sustainable", is pleased to announce a trading update for the year ended
Highlights
Financial
· Group revenue increased 19% to
· Further revenue of
· Increases were seen across all main product areas:
|
2020 |
2019 |
|
d2w Masterbatch |
|
|
2% increase |
d2p Masterbatch |
|
|
88% increase |
Finished Products |
|
|
200% increase |
Other |
|
|
|
· Expected operating loss of
· Net cash and cash equivalents totalled
Operational
· FDA approves Symphony's d2p antibacterial technology for bread packaging
· New Head of Sales and new Head of Procurement appointed during the second half of 2020 to accelerate revenues
· Reflecting further confidence in the Company's products, investment has been made in the appointment of three new sales professionals at the start of 2021
· Enhanced spending to improve market penetration in key territories in
· Unicamp university in
· d2p SYMFresh (food preservation technology) product launch with major South African retailer
· Commenced legal action against European Union for substantial damages
Financial
Group revenue for the year ended
Revenue growth was led by our strategic decision to grow finished products (primarily PPE gloves) with year-on-year growth of 200%, and d2p masterbatch, with year-on-year growth of 88%. d2w growth was limited to 2% as some of Symphony's distributors experienced continued severe COVID lockdowns.
Costs increased during the year by approximately
The
In addition, the Company's wages and salary costs increased in 2020 due to the investment in the sales and other key functions of the Group. The result of the above investments is that the operating loss for the year is expected to be approximately
2020 will show cash of
Operational
In order to accelerate the Group's commercial opportunities, a new Head of Sales and new Head of Procurement were appointed during the second half of 2020. Also, as a continuing enhancement of the commercial structure, three new sales professionals have been appointed in 2021 bringing in specific sales expertise in PPE, large account specialities, and experience in plastic masterbatch markets in
Accordingly, the Group has prepared a detailed Sales strategy including the targeting of certain specific d2p opportunities (see below), together with a plan to maximise our strategic PPE and finished product potential.
The Group is actively looking to further complement the current team with additional specialist resources.
d2p - designed to protect
Symphony's d2p pipeline is starting to show commercial traction. Whilst the development of Symphony's antiviral technology was driven by the current pandemic, there is strong demand, which is expected to continue for influenza, corona-related, and other viruses for years to come due to their apparent continued mutation.
Governments, businesses, and societies need to work out how to live with these epidemics. Symphony continues to believe that our d2p technology can help break the transmission from person to person through the inclusion of antimicrobial protection in everyday items such as supermarket carrier bags, produce packaging, and many other items which people touch, and therefore can form part of a Government's multifaceted approach to reducing the impact of viruses on societies.
Following receipt of further encouraging laboratory results during the year for our FDA-approved formulation for antibacterial bread packaging, we are making good progress with its commercialisation, as a number of potential customers of this technology have commenced their own commercial trials. We expect to provide further updates during the second half of 2021.
Symphony's commercial suite of d2p additives include anti-microbial and anti-viral, odour/ethylene adsorbers and insecticidal technologies. Applications for these are set to grow in 2021 to include, water pipes/tanks, irrigation pipes, car components, electric cables, shopping bags, produce packs, containers, mats, and face masks. Further applications are in our sales pipeline.
Historically, many of the Group's product opportunities have taken 6 months to several years to progress to product launch and then to achieve commercial traction. Following receipt of antiviral laboratory results in
The 88% increase in revenues from 2019 to 2020 demonstrate that several of the initial projects are now live, and we anticipate a continued commercialisation of the pipeline during this year following completion of customer trials and contract negotiations.
The Group continues to invest in R&D in order to enhance and improve the current range of products where demonstrable commercial opportunities exist.
Finished Products - PPE
Throughout 2020 the main issue with PPE was supply. We have therefore improved our procurement function together with adding a PPE sales specialist. The strategy is to focus on
Product will initially be delivered and sold without d2p whilst customer and manufacturer structures are being developed. This may take at least the first half of 2021 due to factory constraints caused by current global demands, with sales growth still targeted in the meantime.
Sales for SYMFresh, our food preservation consumer product, are showing encouraging signs after a South African retailer commenced the initial promotion.
d2w - biodegradable plastics
d2w sales were stable during 2020 compared with the prior year. This was despite a number of territories facing severe COVID lockdowns during the year. Additionally, one of our major distributors held very low stocks at the end of 2020, and we expect that situation to correct itself in early 2021.
EU action
As announced on
Preliminary results for the year ended
Enquiries
Symphony Environmental Technologies Plc |
|
|
Tel: +44 (0) 20 8207 5900 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Zeus Capital Limited (Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker) |
|
|
Tel: +44 (0) 161 831 1512 |
|
Tel: +44 (0) 203 829 5000 |
|
|
Hybridan LLP (Joint Broker)
|
Tel: +44 (0) 203 764 2341 |
The person responsible for arranging the release of this information is
NOTES TO EDITORS:
About Symphony Environmental Technologies plc
Symphony has developed a range of additives, concentrates and master-batches marketed under its d2p® ("designed to protect") trademark, which can be incorporated in a wide variety of plastic and non-plastic products so as to provide protection against many different types of microbes, and insects and rodents, and against fire. d2p products also include odour, moisture and ethylene adsorbers as well as other types of food-preserving technologies. Symphony has launched d2p anti-microbial household gloves and toothbrushes and is developing a range of other d2p finished products for retail sale. See www.d2p.net
Symphony has developed and continues to develop and market, a biodegradable plastic technology which helps tackle the problem of microplastics by turning ordinary plastic at the end of its service-life into biodegradable materials. It is then no longer a plastic and can be bioassimilated in the open environment in a similar way to a leaf. The technology is branded d2w® and appears as a droplet logo on many thousands of tonnes of plastic packaging and other plastic products around the world. In some countries, including
The Group has complemented its d2w biodegradable product range with d2c "compostable resins and products" that have been tested to US and EU composting standards.
Symphony has also developed the d2Detector®, a portable device which analyses plastics and detects counterfeit products. This is useful to government officials tasked with enforcing legislation, and Symphony's d2t tagging and tracer technology is available for further security.
Symphony has a diverse and growing customer-base and has established itself as an international business with 74 distributors around the world. Products made with Symphony's plastic technologies are now available in nearly 100 countries and in many different product applications. Symphony itself is accredited to ISO9001 and ISO14001.
Symphony is a member of The OPA (www.biodeg.org) and actively participates in the Committee work of the British Standards Institute (BSI), the American Standards Organisation (ASTM), the European Standards Organisation (CEN), and the International Standards Organisation (ISO).
Further information on the Group can be found at www.symphonyenvironmental.com and twitter @SymphonyEnv See also Symphony on Instagram. A Symphony App is available for downloading to smartphones.
EU Action
Article 5 of EU Directive 2019/904 purports to ban oxo-degradable plastic, and whilst Symphony's d2w is oxo-biodegradable, many people think that it is affected by the ban. It does not however affect Symphony's range of d2p technologies.
The EU has a well-established procedure, set out in the REACH Regulation 2006/1907, for determining whether substances should be banned. In
The Commission then made the extraordinary decision on
Only if ECHA had recommended a restriction, supported by the detailed dossier prescribed by Annex XV of REACH, the recommendation would have had to be considered by two committees under Articles 70 and 71 of REACH, and also by a stakeholder consultation under Article 71(1), before any restriction could be proposed. None of these procedures prescribed by EU law have been complied with.
RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our Privacy Policy.
The Company is a publisher. You understand and agree that no content published on the Site constitutes a recommendation that any particular security, portfolio of...
FOR OUR FULL DISCLAIMER CLICK HERE