LONDON (Alliance News) - Haydale Graphene Industries PLC Tuesday reported a wider loss for the first half of its financial year as it increased research and development spending and spent money on expanding its facilities, while revenue also rose thanks to its acquisition of EPL Composite Solutions Ltd last November.
The company, which is developing polymer materials and inks and coatings based on graphene, reported a net loss of GBP1.6 million for the six months to end-December compared with a GBP568,000 loss a year earlier as it raised R&D spending to GBP435,000 from GBP179,000, it spent GBP0.6 million on a capacity increase, and it booked a contingent consideration of GBP0.8 million for its acquisition of EPL.
EPL designs, develops, and commercialises advanced composite polymer materials and the buy gave Haydale immediate access to the growing composite market for graphene. As a result, its total income rose to GBP482,000 from GBP58,000 a year earlier, and it doubled to GBP0.12 million on a like-for-like basis.
"In terms of trading over the two month period, EPL has performed strongly, with higher than anticipated Income generated, in part due to the timing of contract wins. Historically, EPL has generated annual Income in excess of GBP0.75 million, whilst in just the first two months under Haydale's ownership, EPL has generated income of approximately GBP0.36 million," the company said.
"2015 promises to be an exciting year for Haydale, particularly for tackling the next steps in the development of the Group's commercialisation plans. Investors can expect to see announcements regarding both technical and commercial progress associated with the scale up and commissioning of our outstanding plasma reactors and the Group developing commercial relationships both domestically and in our targeted geographic territories," it added.
Haydale Graphene shares were down 11.3% at 132.60 pence Tuesday morning, but are still more than double the level they were at the start of 2015.
By Steve McGrath; stevemcgrath@alliancenews.com; @stevemcgrath1
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