Versarien plc (LON:VRS) the advanced engineering materials group, announced today its interim results for the six months ended 30 September 2016 & also a Significant Graphene Order. Neill Ricketts CEO talks to DirectorsTalk about the latest interim results, the graphene order and the traction the company is seeing on the graphene side of the business in this exclusive interview:
Operational Highlights
· Significant advances made in the graphene division with pivotal collaborations formed to develop and commercialise graphene enhanced products in targeted markets including:
– sports equipment in collaboration with Bromley Technologies
– 3D printing industry in collaboration with Absolute Engineering
– aerospace industry in collaboration with CT Engineering
– a further nine collaborations with other partners
– conclusion of collaboration with the National Graphene Institute demonstrating a 52% increase in transverse sheer strength of carbon fibre composites
– patented graphene process moved from research base in Manchester to scale up production facility in Cheltenham
· Hard Wear business relocated to new facilities in Oxfordshire on favourable terms; early signs of uplift in core oil and gas market now being seen
· Continuing OEM pipeline of enquires on copper foam together with distributor restocking; move away from development to production with associated 47% reduction in operational expenses.
Post period end developments
· First significant commercial order received for the supply of graphene nano-platelets (GNPs)
· Acquisition of AAC Cyroma Limited in October 2016 enabling the production of graphene enhanced plastics
· Approved supplier of graphene to a major UK biomedical project exploring 2 dimensional materials assisting in the treatment of cancer, diabetes and dementia
Financial Highlights
· Group revenues of £1.64 million (2015: £2.36 million); largely as a result of reduced component supplies to the oil and gas sector
· Cash of £1.51 million (2015: £2.57 million)
· Fully subscribed placing in July 2016 of £1.04 million net of expenses
· Focus on tight cost control resulting in 15% operational expense reduction
· Net assets of £5.14 million (2015: £6.57 million)
· LBITDA* of £0.80 million (2015: £0.53 million)
· Loss before tax of £1.47 million (2015: £0.84 million)
· Exceptional costs of £0.47 million from factory relocation and acquisition
*LBITDA excludes exceptional items and share-based payment charges
Neill Ricketts, CEO of Versarien plc, commented: “The Group has made significant advances in the commercialisation of graphene with the first supply order now received and also in the product applications in which graphene can be used. The recent acquisition of AAC Cyroma, a well-established profitable business, provides a transformational opportunity to incorporate graphene into injection and vacuum moulded plastic products whilst being a cash generative business in its own right.
“With so much progress made following the positive test results from the University of Manchester and National Graphene Institute we can clearly demonstrate an exceptional performance improvement from incorporating graphene into carbon fibre composites. Consequently, the Group is focusing on accelerating development and commercialisation of its graphene enhanced products through partnerships and its own manufacturing capability.”
The advanced materials group, also announced today the receipt of a further significant graphene order for a carbon fibre composite related OEM application.
On 13 October 2016, the Company announced that following the positive test results from the composite project with the National Graphene Institute (“NGI”) that the NGI was purchasing a significant quantity from Versarien for a specific project with a major OEM.
Versarien has now received an order with a value of over £100,000 for graphene in the form of Few Layer Graphene Nano Platelets (“GNPs”) from a European commercial customer, in conjunction with the NGI. This high quality graphene will be certified by the NGI and Versarien will be handling the dispersion of the GNPs into the resin to be used by the customer. The resin will be provided by the customer free of charge and will be returned to the customer in Europe once mixed with Versarien’s GNPs.
The addition of Versarien’s GNPs is expected to provide a significant performance improvement to the customers’ product and further significant orders would be required to fulfil market potential.
Neill Ricketts, CEO said: “We believe that this order is one of the first significant orders placed in the UK to supply high quality graphene. Versarien is quickly becoming the go to place for high quality GNPs globally, having successfully scaled the business from the lab to the production arena.
“We expect the use of graphene to continue to gain further commercial traction and Versarien is very well placed to be at the forefront of delivering high quality graphene for multiple applications. We will continue to scale our production to meet demand as it occurs.”
