BYOT.L Regulatory News (BYOT)

25 November 2014

Byotrol plc

INTERIM RESULTS

FOR THE SIX MONTHS ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2014

Byotrol plc ('Byotrol', the 'Group' or the 'Company'), the leading AIM listed anti-microbial hygiene company, is pleased to present its unaudited Interim results for the six months ended 30 September 2014.

Highlights

· Strong improvement in underlying trading:

o Turnover of £1,555k (2013: £1,712k). Excluding the substantial (and previously disclosed) one-off payment from a US licensee in 2013, underlying turnover has increased by over 20%

o Administrative costs reduced by 34% to £729k (2013: £1,101k)

o EBITDA loss reduced by 34% to £263k (2013: £393k). Excluding the one-off payment referred to above and share option charges, underlying EBITDA loss has been reduced by over 60%

o Much strengthened balance sheet, boosted by a placing that raised £1.16m (net of expenses) in July 2014

· Next generation technology developed, with patent now granted:

o New formulation, particularly applicable to consumer markets

o Superior performance claims to current formulations

o Complies with forthcoming European biocide and labelling regulations

o Marketing programme now launched in European Union countries

· Approval process formally started with Environmental Protection Agency in the US for regulatory-approved access to the US domestic consumer markets

· As announced separately, Dr Trevor Francis has joined the Board as Chief Technology Officer, previously Global Vice President of Unilever's Homecare R&D team

Commenting on the results, David Traynor, Chief Executive of Byotrol, said:

"We have made good progress this half-year on several fronts. Underlying sales are up, costs are substantially down and we have now positioned our technologies for the diverging regulatory environments in the US domestic market and the EU market.

We are delighted that Dr Trevor Francis has agreed to join the Board. We will benefit greatly from his technical expertise and network of contacts."

Enquiries:

Byotrol plc

David Traynor - Chief Executive 01925 742 000

Dawn Williams - Group Marketing Controller

finnCap

Geoff Nash/Christopher Raggett - Corporate Finance 020 7220 0500

Mia Gardner - Corporate Broking

Notes to Editors:

Byotrol plc (BYOT.L), quoted on AIM, is a leading anti-microbial technology company, operating globally in the Food, Industrial, Healthcare and Consumer sectors, providing low toxicity products with a broad-based and long-lasting efficacy across all microbial classes; bacteria, viruses, fungi, moulds, mycobacteria and algae.

Powerful, long-lasting and gentle, Byotrol's products can be used stand alone or as ingredients within existing products, where Byotrol can significantly improve their performance in personal hygiene, domestic and industrial disinfection, odour control, food production and food management.

Founded in 2005, the Company develops technologies that create easier, safer and cleaner lives for everyone.

For more information, please go to www.byotrol.co.uk

Chief Executive's Report

In the last six months we have been largely successful in hitting our targets, namely: increase underlying sales, reduce costs, develop better products, improve the balance sheet and make the business more efficient.

We have also been investing carefully to position ourselves for forthcoming regulatory and labelling changes in global chemical and consumer markets. We now have separate technologies for the various geographical regulatory regimes, where the US and Europe in particular have diverging requirements. This has been helped by working in development alliances with other chemical companies and has already resulted in one UK patent grant (with PCT patents pending) for a totally new Byotrol formulation platform, with superior claims potential for European consumer markets.

In general we are pleased with progress so far and see good momentum towards taking the Company to profitability.

Financial Overview

Headline numbers for the period are as follows:

· EBITDA loss has reduced by 34% to £263k (2013: £393k) on slightly reduced turnover of £1,555k (2013: £1,712k)

Underlying these numbers is a marked improvement in trading. Excluding (a) the previously disclosed one-off licence payment in H1 2013 and (b) share option charges:

· Underlying EBITDA loss has reduced by over 60% to £226k on an increase in turnover (of over 20%) to £1,555k

· Underlying gross profit has remained broadly flat at £502k

Administrative costs have been reduced by 34% to £729k (2013: £1,101k). The rationalisation programme introduced in October 2013, following the acquisition of the remaining 50% of Byotrol Consumer Products Ltd, has now been completed.

Markets

Professional

Our Professional segment has performed strongly. Sales have increased to £939k (2013: £767k) and gross profit has increased to £244k (2013: £230k).

In food and beverage, our business servicing food manufacturing and processing companies has performed particularly well, including good growth at our core customers Cranswick plc and Bakkavor plc. As part of our approach to comply with new EU labelling rules on biocides we have launched a rebalanced formulation of Byotrol aimed at the Professional mass market - the initial response has been positive.

Our M&S relationship remains strong, with Byotrol now adopted in 560 stores and franchises.

In business services we continue to grow steadily in sales and gross profit across a broad range of smaller companies and distributors.

We maintain a good relationship with Rentokil Initial plc and we continue to support their Ultraprotect range of hand hygiene products. However sales have been too low to justify the breadth and exclusivity provisions of the agreement signed in 2011; so we have now mutually agreed to replace that agreement and work on a new, more focused business relationship. These discussions are ongoing.

In healthcare, we continue to work through the lengthy processes involved in generating sales to the NHS and its suppliers. This includes formal trialling of our products in 5 hospitals with leading facilities services companies. Technical results to date are very good and we remain hopeful of substantial progress this financial year. We also now have early stage development discussions ongoing with established companies in woundcare and sporicidal products.

Petcare

Our pet and vet business has continued to perform well, with turnover increasing to £483k (2013: £334k) and gross profit increasing to £125k (2013: £100k).

Our business is still largely focussed on strong supply relationships with Pets at Home, the national pet speciality retailer, and Petface, a relatively new, but innovative and fast-growing pet brand.

We are particularly pleased to be expanding our product distribution into Central Europe and Australian chain stores - these new outlets accounted for 20% of Petcare turnover in the period.

We are reliant for much of our pet business on overseas suppliers, particularly in Asia. Unfortunately, since the half-year end we have been experiencing some quality issues with one of our suppliers. This has required some remedial action that may have an impact on pet margins in H2.

Consumer

Our Consumer segment traded behind plan in the period, with turnover and gross profit down significantly at £132k compared to the headline numbers for the comparable period H1 2013 (£611k). The comparable numbers however include the previously disclosed, substantial one-off payment received in the US.

It has become increasingly clear that geographically-diverging regulatory rules mean we will only make progress in Consumer if we can target different formulations to (a) EU consumers, requiring reformulations approved under the new EU regulatory rules and (b) US consumers, requiring formulations that will pass the US Environmental Protection Agency regulatory tests. I am pleased to report that we have made good progress in this re-targeting, including:

· New, improved, newly-patented and regulatory-compliant consumer formulations are now being marketed to potential partners in Europe. We continue to partner with Albaad in wipe formats and are now building marketing alliances in liquid formats. The sales cycle on these deals can be lengthy, but initial indications are very positive

· We are now in the middle of a formal review of our products by the US EPA. This has been a long-term target of the Company and now, using the funds and expertise from the earlier, now suspended, deal with Kimberly-Clark Corp. we are proceeding towards a conclusion before the end of this financial year. We cannot guarantee an approval, but if we do pass the tests, we will have a unique - and consumer-validated - product for the very sizeable US domestic market

· We have already agreed a small deal in the US domestic market with Oregon-based Advanced Hygienics to act as an agent for the new products. As part of that deal Advanced Hygienics is contributing to our EPA registration costs.

Based on progress so far, we remain very excited about the potential in consumer markets and continue to focus sales resource into this area.

Technology and Regulation

As a biocide-based, anti-microbial company, Byotrol operates in heavily-regulated markets, with rules varying by geography and market type. We are well-versed in the geographical differences and in the challenges and opportunities this presents (especially the barriers to new competition).

The regulatory regime in the European Union in particular is being significantly tightened, with the introduction of the EU Biocides Regulation (528/2012) and associated rules, creating a new and detailed process of product authorisation, labelling and monitoring.

We certainly support the principles behind the changes (ie making the world safer), but from our vantage point as an SME, the new authorisation process is bureaucratic, complex, expensive and prone to change. This has been creating resource and planning issues, as it has for our competitors.

This is an ongoing process that will require continued time and effort and we cannot be sure how customers and consumers will react to the huge number of labelling changes due to take place from June 2015. But we are confident of our position and see some excellent opportunities as lower-quality products fail to meet the new standards.

Board

I am pleased to announce a strengthening of our Board, with the addition of Dr Trevor Francis as an Executive Director and Chief Technology Officer. Dr Francis has been working as a consultant to the Company in various positions over the last six years, particularly in consumer product development and commercialisation and was responsible for developing the patented technology that has created a new platform for us. Prior to joining Byotrol, Dr Francis spent 29 years at Unilever where he became Vice President of the Global R&D Homecare division and Head of the European Fabric Conditioners & Global Fragrance divisions.

Outlook

We are very positive about the outlook for the Company. We have improved our financial performance substantially, re-positioned our products for diverging regulatory environments and taken big steps to launching in the US.

In parallel with the sales and marketing process, we continue to increase efficiencies within the business - rationalising the product portfolio, improving the supply chain, driving our margins and making changes accordingly.

There are still challenges to be faced but there are also many opportunities and with such a lean business we know that one new sizeable contract should propel us into profitability and more rapid growth. We are all working very hard - and with confidence - to deliver that contract and more.

David Traynor

Chief Executive

1. Basis of preparation

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the AIM rules, international financial reporting standards ("IFRS") as adopted by the European Union that are applicable to the Group's statutory accounts for the year ended 31st March 2014 and the applicable provisions of the Companies Act 2006. The interim financial statements are unaudited and were approved by the Directors on 24 November 2014. The information set out herein is abbreviated and does not constitute statutory accounts within the meaning of Section 434 of the Companies Act 2006. The results for the year ended 31 March 2014 are in abbreviated form and have been extracted from the published financial statements. These were audited and reported upon without qualification by Mazars LLP and did not contain a statement under Section 498(2) or (3) of the Companies Act 2006. Statutory accounts for the financial year ended 31 March 2014 have been filed with the Registrar of Companies.

The Group has not applied IAS 34, Interim Financial Reporting, which is not mandatory for UK Groups, in the preparation of these interim financial statements.

The Company is a limited liability company incorporated and domiciled in England & Wales and whose shares are quoted on AIM, a market operated by The London Stock Exchange. The consolidated financial information of Byotrol plc is presented in Pounds Sterling (£), which is also the functional currency of the parent.

2. Going concern

The Group has continued to incur losses in the period to 30 September 2014, but had, at the period end, cash reserves and net assets of £578,796 and £1,118,519. Byotrol plc has prepared interim financial statements on a going concern basis, which assumes the Group will continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. The Group's ability to meet its future funding and working capital requirements, and therefore continue as a going concern, is dependent upon the Group being able to generate recurring and sustainable revenues and free cash flow. The Directors have prepared projected cash flow information for the period ending 12 months from the date of approval of these interim financial statements. The projections take into account the new business opportunities highlighted in the Chief Executive's Report, the timing and quantum of which will affect the Group's cash requirements, which are continually monitored by the Board.

On the basis of these projections and having undertaken sensitivity analysis in respect of future sales growth, the Directors are satisfied that the Group can meet its operational requirements and discharge its liabilities as and when they fall due. Accordingly they continue to adopt the going concern basis in preparing the interim report and accounts.

In the event that the Group is unable to achieve its forecast cash inflows, the Directors have opportunities available to them which will enable them to reduce costs so that the business can continue to exist within its current funding arrangements. Based on this analysis, the Directors have a reasonable expectation that the Group has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future and for this reason they continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting.  

3. Segmental information

The Group has three reportable segments; being Professional (including food service, food manufacturing, industrial and health), Consumer and Pet. This disclosure correlates with the information which is presented to the Group's Chief Decision Maker, the Board. The Group's revenue, result before taxation and net assets were all derived from its principal activities.

The first segment concerns the professional sector incorporating business to business sales into food and beverage, healthcare and facilities management. The second segment concerns the consumer sector and primarily revenue generated from licence agreements with third parties for the manufacture and sale of products incorporating Byotrol technology. The third sector concerns the Pet sector, where finished goods are manufactured and sold into the companion animal sector.

The Group operates in different geographic locations. The revenue generated from the different geographic locations is analysed separately into the information below.

The Group's centrally incurred administrative expenses, incorporating the ongoing research and development work, operating income and assets and liabilities cannot be allocated to individual segments.

3. Segmental information (continued)

4. Loss per share

The loss per ordinary share is based on the losses for the period of £369,845 (six months ended 30 September 2013: £607,428; twelve months ended 31 March 2014: £986,144) and the weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue during the period of 197,940,050 (six months ended 30 September 2013; 146,620,414, twelve months ended 31 March 2014: 163,854,920).

The loss for the period and the weighted average number of ordinary shares for calculating the diluted earnings per share for the six months ended 30 September 2014 and for the comparative periods are identical to those used for the basic earnings per share. This is because the outstanding share options would have the effect of reducing the loss per ordinary share and would therefore not be dilutive.

5. Taxation

No liability to UK corporation or overseas income taxes arises for the period due to losses incurred. The Directors have assessed the position in relation to deferred tax and concluded that no provision or asset should be created at this stage in respect of deferred tax in view of the timescale and uncertainty of the recovery of tax losses. This position will be reviewed again at 31 March 2015.

6. Interim announcement

The interim report was released on 25 November 2014. It is also available on the Company's website, www.byotrol.co.uk