Versarien plc (LON:VRS), the advanced materials engineering group, will be holding a General Meeting at 10.00 a.m. today, at which the following statement will be provided:
“The Company’s turnaround strategy continues to progress and we are pleased to provide an update:
Organisational Structure
● The disposal of assets, including the mature businesses and the intellectual property and plant acquired from Hanwha Aerospace in Korea in 2020 continue to be marketed for sale and we have a number of interested parties, particularly in the intellectual property, who are reviewing information in the data rooms. However, the timing of any asset sales and the quantum of the funds that may be received is uncertain.
● The Company’s cost base has been reduced significantly in recent months with unaudited LBITDAE (loss before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation and exceptional items) at a much lower level than in the first six months of the financial year.
The Company continues to focus on its two development and commercialisation areas:
CementeneTM
· Versarien Graphene Limited has been shortlisted by the Global Cement and Concrete Association (“GCCA”), from a global list of applications, for its pioneering Innovandi Open Challenge scheme, to work on developing low-carbon concrete. The shortlist drawn up by the GCCA and its member companies is intended to represent the most promising and deployable technologies.
● Versarien’s graphene materials have been supplied to its partners for use in a trial pour in the Netherlands using recycled construction materials, processed using renewable energies.
● Following the announcement on 17 May 2023 further testing is planned with Banagher Precast Concrete and other UK and European concrete manufacturers. We remain confident of the commercial potential of our Cementene™ enhanced concrete.
Graphene-WearTM
● Commercially we are continuing to supply the textile sector, including Umbro for their Autumn/Winter 2023 and Spring/Summer 2024 ranges. This has included the development of new Graphene-Wear™ formulations that also include colourants.
● We have provided graphene enhanced thermoplastic polymer masterbatches to Umbro and other clients for sports equipment. Developments with graphene and hBN (hexagonal boron nitride) enhanced textile polymer masterbatches are also progressing, with a grant application submitted for the optimisation of 2d material enhanced extruded yarns with other UK partners.
In summary, the turnaround strategy, which focuses on a light manufacturing model, is continuing as planned and we look forward to updating shareholders on further progress in due course.”
