6 Oct 2009 07:00
Byotrol plc (the "Company")
UPDATE ON TRADING
The Board is pleased to announce a further positive update on trading in relation to the six months ended 30 September 2009.
As highlighted in the announcement dated 17 September, the first half of the current financial year has been characterised by a significant increase in orders for Byotrol products. This trend has continued through to the end of the half year and as a result the Board is pleased to report that product sales for the six months ended 30 September 2009 will be in the order of £1.5m (£0.2m for the comparative period). There was an additional one off license payment of £450k bringing total revenues to approximately £1.9m as compared to £0.4m for the same period last year.
The Board believes certain key factors have underpinned the interest in, and orders for, Byotrol products. One has been the increased public and businesss awareness of the products following the success of the Manchester Royal Infirmary trial which demonstrated that Byotrol outperformed the NHS's gold standard cleaning regime. Another is the increased public awareness of the requirement for better personal hygiene stemming, in part, from the threat of swine flu. The third key factor is the continued growth in the recognition of Byotrol's superiority to other products in that it continues to work even when dry.
Highlights of the Company's activities during the period include the receipt of significant orders for supply to major retailers for the protection of their staff. The Company has also despatched material orders to Arco, one of the UK's leading Health and Safety product suppliers.
"I am very pleased with the sales performance for the first half" said CEO David McRobbie. "The unprecedented increase in orders gave rise to some temporary issues in relation to sourcing bottles and caps and the Company turned to suppliers in both Europe and North America. This has had an unavoidable short term impact on margins. We have, however, addressed the bottles supply issue via a manufacturing arrangement with a major bottle supplier. Accordingly, the Board expect that margins should improve in the second half of the current financial year."
The eight fold increase in activity levels has also been reflected in an increased working capital requirement and the Board has taken steps to address this. As at 30 September, the Company had cash of £1.6m.
The Company has a good forward order book for the third quarter of the financial year but the nature of the business means that, at the current time, there is more limited visibility for the final quarter. As a consequence, the Board's current view is that the results for the financial year will be in line with market expectations.
The Board will provide a further update at the time of the announcement of the interim results in mid November.
Enquiries:
| Byotrol plc | |
| Richard Bell, Finance Director | Tel 0161 277 9518 |
| Charles Stanley Securities Nominated Adviser & Broker | |
| Philip Davies / Carl Holmes | Tel 020 7149 6000 |
6 October 2009