The next focusIR Investor Webinar takes places on 14th May with guest speakers from WS Blue Whale Growth Fund, Taseko Mines, Kavango Resources and CQS Natural Resources fund. Please register here.
Sounds, SOH at Opti has been ploughing the trades fair route for years with clinically proven products and funding marketing by selling Skin shares and latterly a placing with little success, and now relies on a big partner (Dr Morepen) in India for Slimbiome and a US Partner and Firmenich/DSM for the sweetbiotix launch to transform its fortunes.
The Umesh Modi deal was negotiated long before Skin took the helm and considering it was launched March 01st and there is still no internet presence for the "Pheet" brands then suggests comprehensive internal sales training of its 1200 marketing staff is taking place and no doubt a big bang advertising campaign has been planned which could significantly boost the sales of Dermatonics already profitable products. Like Toyin, I was not a fan of the acquisition strategy, but on reflection the telling interview with Croda where we informed a project of this nature typically takes 7 years and it is remarkable that it is to be concluded in 5 years, illustrates how Skin has been led down the garden path in terms of launch dates going back to 2021, and hence left SA little choice but to seek some sort of insurance against further delays in the skinbiotix launch.
Concur totally Toyin, the acne results will be positive but we do need a partner to bear the marketing costs and make it a commercial success. Manprit mentioned at the last Investor Meets presentation that £100K had been spent on marketing for Axis-ps last year which doesn't look good against just £123K revenues although the high retention rates means at least it does not have to be repeated to maintain a stable user base, just to generate new customer interest, but does emphasise the need more a partner with deeper pockets.
Got enough to worry about with the companies already listed
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/news-article/market-news/suspension-first-class-metals-plc/16449565
Malco, if you bothered to read the Morepen related RNS you would realise this is the manufacturing agreement for the products that Dr Morepen will market and distribute financial details and timelines are ""We are pleased to announce this agreement with Morepen, a well-known and trusted supplier to pharmacies, physicians, and retail customers across India. Morepen brings an extensive sales team with experience of highly differentiated scientific products and countrywide access to a network of around 500,000 pharmacies across India. Based on current forecasts, the Directors anticipate this agreement could contribute in the region of £6-7 million revenue per annum in the next four to five years.""
Mol, let's nail the myth that the placing for just £1.3M gross was to keep the lights on, it was to:
"The net proceeds of the Fundraise will be utilised to invest in driving sales growth by:-
1. active account management of existing partners by co-investing in publicity, marketing, and promotions to increase sales;
2. increased presence of the Company's stands at major exhibitions to attract new partners, particularly in the USA and India to mitigate dependency on a small number of partners;
3. investing in marketing the Company's products to grow sales on e-commerce platforms in India, China, USA, Europe, and the Gulf States; and
4. launch its second generation SweetBiotix and MicroBiome Modulator products."
Note with regards point 3, we have subsequently been informed that "The Company intends to promote heavily on TikTok and Tmall in March and April 2024 with new stock and hope to have a clearer picture of likely regular monthly sales going forward after this period. A TikTok channel has been established in the UK with a view to emulating the success obtained with TikTok China. The Company's Amazon Europe sales channel is now active and the Company is working on ways to deliver products through Amazon Prime. The aim is to launch product on Amazon UAE in late Q1 2024 and Amazon India in early Q2 2024." Consequently, as the UK TikTok site has only just been established, give it time eh after all the TikTok site in China resulted in "E-commerce sales for 2023 were 287% up on 2022 driven by strong growth in China of gummies and large increases in Amazon Prime subscriptions. This progress led the consumer health business to profitability in October and November 2023. Gummy supply and sales in China vary between £20,000 to £50,000 per month partially moderated by stock availability and the Chinese New Year"
That said SOH really does not help himself by cherry picking figures and using them out of context. His statement that "In addition to founding and developing three companies, OptioBiotix layered its development portfolio by creating first generation products (principally SlimBiome® and subsequently WellBiome® in prebiotics and LPLDL® in probiotics) of relatively moderate development risk using existing science, whilst in parallel developing more innovative second-generation products (SweetBiotix®, MicroBiome Modulators) that offer the potential for larger future returns. This strategy allowed the Company to achieve combined revenues of £2.2m in 2021 with both the probiotic (now ProBiotix Health plc) and prebiotic trading businesses being EBITDA profitable in both years. " fails to recognise that the figures were artificially inflated because of Covid overstocking that led to the dreadful figures in 2022 where partners ran down their stocks instead of ordering more. If SOH wants to make a go of first gen products he needs to win over big Customers such as kelloggs which should not prove insurmountable given the obesity rates ar
Yes Andrew, we had the strategic and commercial update RNS in Feb. To help make sense of the meaningless percentages; THG took 3 metric tonnes in 2022 so the 36.8% higher uptake in 2023 represents sales of £123K. Can't help you with the H&B figures as no sales took place to them in 2022 so "sales up substantially" could mean anything.
Progress against the stated aim for 2023, each B/U (India, US, B2B and e-Commerce) to be profitable by the end 2023 at least on a month by month basis; B2B and e-Commerce achieved profitability, at least for a month or two, the others didn't.
Sweetbiotix - The Company has included SweetBiotix® in a finished product for a large global partner with a view for an upcoming launch. The Company hopes to see SweetBiotix® in an increasing number of products launched throughout 2024. SOH added in response to a question I raised through TW, "We still intend to launch sweetbiotix as a bulk sugar replacement. These two approaches are not mutually exclusive. We have been surprised and somewhat pleased that progress has been made so quickly with a large corporate in terms of inclusion in a final product."
My wife has been smoking for over 50 years and also hasn't had any side effects yet but not sure that should reassure anyone about the impact of cigarettes. The bottom line is that as LPLDL is clinically proven to lower cholesterol on its own, why persevere with a product containing red yeast at levels considered unsafe by other jurisdictions?
"Q. My bad cholesterol has been rising, and my doctor suggested that I start taking a statin. I've read that red yeast rice has many of the cholesterol-lowering benefits of a statin, and I would rather go the natural route. However, I recently heard on a newscast that red yeast rice can have adverse effects on the kidneys. Is it still safe for me to take this supplement?
A. It's true that red yeast rice, which contains monacolin K, a chemical that's identical to the active ingredient in the cholesterol-lowering drug lovastatin (Mevacor), may reduce your LDL (bad) cholesterol and lower your total cholesterol. However, an independent analysis of a dozen 600-milligram (mg) capsules of red yeast rice products conducted a few years ago found that the actual monacolin K content varied widely — from 0.1 mg to 10.9 mg. (The lowest dose of lovastatin is 20 mg.) In addition, one-third of the products were contaminated with a potentially toxic compound called citrinin, which can damage the kidneys. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has blocked the sale of red yeast rice supplements that contain enough of the active ingredient to make them as effective as lovastatin because they haven't undergone the drug approval process. Unlike FDA-approved drugs, supplements can be sold without proof of effectiveness and purity."
https://www.health.harvard.edu/cholesterol/can-i-use-red-yeast-rice-instead-of-a-statin-to-lower-my-cholesterol
Good results from l'Oreal today and of particular note "All Divisions grew with stellar performances from the Consumer Products and Dermatological Beauty Divisions" so the Consumer appetite is certainly there for quality ingredients and products.
https://www.loreal-finance.com/eng/news-release/first-quarter-2024-sales
Clerical error by someone
Strange thacquision/disposal box is marked tgen
At an added cost of just 3p per box Slimbiome should not be an irrelevance if the right deal is struct with a Customer such as Kellogg's and with all the science behind it why is it proving so difficult? The indian partner Dr Morepen obviously sees the benefits and will help to make Slimbiome relevant once launched.
The Sweetbiotix Opportunity with Kelloggs is there for all to see.
Crunchy Nut Cornflakes, Rice Crispies, Coco Pops and Frosties are very high in sugar and the 4th, 6th, 8th and 9th best sellers accounting for 16.2M Consumers or 194.4M boxes of cereal all high in sugar content, surely these must all be at the front of the queue for a sugar substitute classified as a healthy fibre rather than an added sugar and the potential revenue for opti is staggering?
Also, frustrated that H&B Slimexpert porridge (contains slimbiome) has now been Out of Stock online and Instore for over 1 month now, I thought I would look at Kellogg's equivalent sachets but was horrified at the Sugar content once semi skinned milk was added (H&B already includes semi-skimmed milk powder so is made with added water). The kellogg's variety contains only half the fibre too. Comparisons are; Kelloggs Sugar - 15g, Fibre 2.6g, carbs 33g, salt 0.33g
H&B Sugar - 3.2g, Fibre 4.5g, carbs 15g, salt 0.19g.
Despite this, Kellogg's Oat So Simple range for 2022 was the third most popular Cereal with over 5M Consumers in the UK (see link 1), although with Kellogg's recently losing its Court Case with the Government which means Kellogg's will not be allowed to promote sugary cereals in supermarket special offers it may not remain in that position (see link2).
According to SOH Investor Meets Presentation on 24th May 2023, H&B took 9M tonne for all their products in the last normal trading year in 2020 (2021 Covid year was inflated by overstocking that led to zero orders in 2022).
SlimExpert range comprises shots, meal replacement shakes and porridge; assume even split between the three categories so at £30k per tonne 3 metrics tonne of porridge was used generating £90k revenue for the sale of boxes using 3g slimbiome at 30p per box suggesting 300,000 boxes sold for the year.
Kellogg has over 5M Consumers for their equivalent porridge so assuming 1 box per month consumed per consumer that is 60M boxes, so even if SOH was forced to accept a 50% cut in margin Opti would be looking at £9M in revenues increasing the fiber content and helping consumers feel satiated. My question is, as SOH has already been dealing with Kellogg for Sweetbiotix why has he been unable to cut a deal for Slimbiome?
https://www.statista.com/statistics/301914/leading-breakfast-cereal-brands-in-the-uk/
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-62034220
Just bought some myself and what you pay for is the additional fibre. Compared to Sainsbury's Be Good To yourself Tomato Soup the per sachet differences are as follows:
Sains - Carbohydrate - 13.6g, Sugars 5.9g, Fibre 1.1g, salt 1.02g
Opti - carbohydrate 10g, Sugars 6.0g, Fibre 4.4g, salt 0.38g
Already banned in US and heavily restricted in the EU, issues now raised in Japan. Amazed PBX still sells Cholbiome X3 in the UK
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-68662585
Yes Toyin technically t hey have it it currently involve s training the sales team, the sales team engaging with their clients to gain an understanding of demand at which point a RNS with a forecast will be issued and the products will be shipped supported by a high profile marketing campaign
Basically the Umesh Modi launch will be with a bang not a whimper when it happens
Available on Amazon in KSA since 2018 https://www.amazon.sa/-/en/Dermatonics-Once-Heel-Balm-60/dp/B0769QSMQK
When I asked the question at the Investor Meets about marketing support for the Pheet Dermatonics launch Stuart replied this had been discussed at length with Umesh Modi and as their Sales Force are trained will see increased high profile marketing campaign utilising TV and Journals
Also states will be sold under the Dermatonics brand in the rest of the world thus differentiating it from the Pheet & Dermatonic brand. Would Umesh Modi really start their launch in Saudia Arabia rather than their home market first?
Toyin, I believe the linked sales pre-date Umesh Modi, there is no Pheet branding on the product which is what I expect to see at the onset of production from the Induan partner. Also, by the time products hit the stores we can expect to have received forecast sales announced via a RNS.