Haydale Graphene Industries Plc (LON:HAYD) CEO Ray Gibbs talks to DirectorsTalk about its final results. Ray explains why despite an increase in turnover of 30% there are also similar losses, talks about recent major capex and when will we should see meaningful revenues.
Operational Highlights:
· Collaboration agreement with world leading resin company, Huntsman Advanced Materials to develop graphene enhanced resins initially with its market leading Araldite® epoxy resin, targeting thermal conductivity in the industrial composites, automotive and aerospace markets;
· Collaboration agreement between Haydale and Graphit Kropfmühl (“GK”), part of AMG Advanced Metallurgical Group N.V., focusing on the development of new value added nano-material products using Haydale’s functionalisation process and GK graphitic material, primarily from its mine in Sri Lanka;
· Establishing a European Centre of Excellence under the GK agreement including sale and subsequent delivery of one R&D (HT60) and one larger (HT200) capacity reactor at commercial rates;
· Joint development agreement with one of the world’s largest glass fibre reinforced plastic (“GRP”) companies, Flowtite Technology AS, to develop the next generation GRP pipe systems for water and sewerage applications;
· Strengthened our ink capability through a commercial tie up with Taiwan specialist ink manufacturer Dowton Electronic Materials Co., Ltd., for the development, production, sales and marketing of a Haydale-branded graphene enhanced screen printable ink which will be aimed initially at the biomedical market; and
· Patent granted by the European Patent Office and already extended to China and Australia.
Post Period End Highlights:
· Acquisition of Innophene Co., Ltd (“Innophene”), based in Bangkok, Thailand, which will become our Far Eastern “Centre of Excellence”, enabling the Group to rapidly respond to customers’ needs in the APAC region and provides us with high quality, low cost processing, treatment and R&D expertise to accelerate product development;
· Conditional acquisition of ACMC Holding, Inc., and its wholly owned trading subsidiary, Advanced Composites Materials, LLC (“ACM”), which will become the Group’s North American “Centre of Excellence” and is the low risk entry point into the US market, where the initial focus is on increasing ACM’s existing $3.8 million of annual sales of silicon carbide nanomaterials, in both the US and across our other geographic territories;
· Appointment of Trevor Rudderham as CEO of Haydale Technologies Inc, our US subsidiary that is acquiring ACM, to run and grow the Group’s North American operations; and
· Launch of new graphene enhanced Polylactic Acid (“PLA”) 3D printing filament to be launched at the TCT show in Birmingham on 28 September.
Financial Highlights:
This year’s results are consistent with our internal projections and market expectations:
· Group income up 30% year on year to £1.92 million (2015: £1.48 million);
· Adjusted EBITDA loss of £3.36 million (2015: £2.38 million);
· Investment in R&D increased to £0.94m (2015 £0.56m);
· Continued investment in our reactor and processing capacity totalled £0.47 million (2015: £1.18 million);
· Cash balance at year end of £2.86 million (2015: £2.05 million); and
· Successful placing and open offer in November 2015 to raise £6.0 million (before costs)
Commenting on the results Ray Gibbs, CEO of Haydale Graphene Industries Plc, said: “The year has been a transitional one moving the business from an R&D focussed operation into a sales and marketing organisation delivering sales of graphene enhanced products. As is normal with a new technology, gaining market acceptance can be a long and difficult task and there are many challenges to meet. However, having invested heavily during the year, we now have the tools to overcome these barriers to entry. We have added to our technical sales teams, substantially increased our production capability, secured a proven, robust supply chain and invested in overseas sales operations to open and serve markets in the Far East and North America. We are set for growth starting with the launch this month of the exciting new product, our branded graphene enhanced 3D PLA printing filament.”
