Last checked at 25 Oct 2010 09:34
25 October 2010
Plant Health Care plc
("Plant Health Care" or "the Company")
Plant Health Care announces Licensing Agreement with XS, Inc for
Computer Automated Spatial Analysis (CASA) technology
Plant Health Care (AIM: PHC), a leading provider of naturally derived products to the agriculture and landscape industries, announces that it has licensed USA and international rights for its Computer Automated Spatial Analysis (CASA) technology to XS, Inc. of North Carolina (USA). This license agreement is further to the CASA patent application announced by Plant Health Care in March, 2010.
CASA is a ground breaking technology that enables the statistically accurate verification of field trial data from multiple areas in the same field, even in the presence of significant variability factors such as soil type, drainage and elevation.
The ability to accurately assess the impact of prescriptive input applications to small areas within a larger field enables farmers to manage the areas under investigation with a higher degree of precision thereby achieving higher yields, lower costs, and increased profitability.
The spatial analysis technology streamlines the process of collecting, assembling, and analysing electronically collected, geo-referenced yield data in such a manner that it is now economically practical to spatially analyse yield data from practically any field from which geo-referenced data is obtained.
XS and Plant Health Care will work together to fully automate the CASA system and market it to a wide customer base which includes the major agrochemical and seed companies, distributors and grower organisations worldwide. The two companies will share in the revenues generated from the licensed use of the system. Plant Health Care anticipates that this program will start contributing to profits in less than three years and that, based on rates for other precision agricultural technologies, plus the applicability of the system to over 200 million acres in the USA alone, that earnings in the tens of millions per year are foreseeable with wide adoption of the technology.
John Brady CEO of Plant Health Care commented: "XS, Inc. is the right company to continue the development of this exciting new agricultural technology. With literally tens of thousands of electronic data points associated with each field, and potentially tens of millions of acres as candidates to benefit from CASA analysis, the ability to process and protect vast quantities of on-line data is paramount. XS is the agricultural industry leader in on-line seed and crop protection data collection and analysis, and we are confident in their ability to deliver CASA technology to the market place."
Bill Barton, Co-founder and Managing Director of XS, Inc. said: "A critical piece of the process will be the ability to manage vast amounts of data from thousands of farmers in a customer friendly manner, while delivering the yield analysis information in a way that's intuitive and understandable in its presentation, valuable and practical in its application, and timely in its delivery. We already do that for agricultural input suppliers, so extending the service of data collection, protection, and analysis to farmers is a natural extension of our business, and we look forward to making the PHC system work."
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For further information, please contact:
| Plant Health Care plc | XS, Inc. |
| John Brady, Chief Executive Officer | Bill Barton, Managing Director |
| Tel: +1-603-525-3702 | Tel: +1-919-379-3524 |
| jabrady@planthealthcare.com | bbarton@xsinc.com |
| Evolution Securities | Tavistock Communications |
| Tim Worlledge / Tim Redfern | Jeremy Carey/Simon Compton |
| Tel: +44-20-7071-4300 | Tel: +44-20-7920-3150 |
| tim.worlledge@evosecuties.com tim.redfern@evosecuties.com | jcarey@tavistock.co.uk mridsdale@tavistock.co.uk |
Notes to editors:
About Plant Health Care plc: Plant Health Care plc ("PHC") is a leading provider of naturally derived products for plants and soil. Established in 1995 in Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania) in the United States, PHC currently has approximately 90 employees and has operations in the United States, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Spain, and the Netherlands. The Company's ordinary shares have been quoted on the Alternative Investment Market ("AIM") of the London Stock Exchange since July 2004 and listed on the Official List of the Channel Islands Stock Exchange ("CISX") in February 2010 (ticker symbol/ mnemonic: PHC).
PHC's products are aimed at the agriculture and landscape industries and are environmentally beneficial. Through the commercialisation of these products, PHC is capitalising on current long-term trends toward natural systems and biological products for plant care and soil and water management. Further information is available at: www.planthealthcare.com.
About XS, Inc.: For more than a decade, XS, Inc. has been a leader in Software as a Service (SaaS), providing scalable and comprehensive tools to data-driven organizations. A leader in transaction data collection, analysis and online reporting, XS transforms existing data into powerful tools for improving efficiency, identifying opportunities, evaluating performance, optimizing marketing efforts and maximizing client relationships. Through state-of-the-art software, XS helps clients create and deliver strategic business solutions. Headquartered in North Carolina's Research Triangle Park, XS powers its suite of solutions to a variety of clients across the globe. (www.xsinc.com)