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(Alliance News) - Haydale Graphene Industries PLC said Tuesday its annual loss deepened amid an impairment to its composite business in a "challenging" year for the firm, despite progress on streamlining and orders.
For the year ended June, pretax loss widened to GBP7.8 million from GBP6.0 million the year prior. This was despite revenue rising 2.9% to GBP3.5 million from GBP3.4 million the year before.
Profit performance was hurt by a GBP1.8 million impairment associated with Haydale's UK composites business. Despite the impairment, the company said it continues to believe the composites unit has a "good pipeline of opportunities."
"The year under review has been a challenging one for Haydale," Chair David Banks said.
"At management level, we have recruited a new executive team lead by Keith Broadbent, who was promoted from COO to CEO in March 2019, and Laura Redman-Thomas, who joined as our CFO in December 2018," Banks added.
"At an operational level, we have streamlined the business and rationalised our cost base, created a rigorous product and commodity analysis with subsequent clear focus, both inwardly and outwardly, introducing best manufacturing procedures and processes, created a group sales force and refinanced the business with the fundraising announced in March," Banks continued.
In March, the firm raised GBP5.8 million through a share placing and subscription.
In a separate announcement Tuesday, Haydale said its US ceramic blanks business secured an order worth USD700,000 with a potential USD600,000 order also possible from another customer.
The USD700,000 order for Haydale Ceramic Technologies LLC in the US comes from a US cutting tool maker, and follows a trial order of 33,000 ceramic blanks previously delivered by Haydale Ceramic.
Similarly, a Japanese cutting tool maker has committed in principle to buy 145,000 blanks with a value of around USD600,000. This order is expected to launch in April.
"Since production commenced in June this year, the team has worked closely with new and existing customers to ensure the product is of the highest quality," Haydale Ceramic CEO Tom Quantrille said. "We are now able to produce high quality sintered ceramic blanks in industry expected quantities."
Shares in Haydale were 5.1% lower at 1.07 pence in London on Tuesday.
By Ahren Lester; ahrenlester@alliancenews.com
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