PHC.L Regulatory News (PHC)

25 Jan 2006 07:01

Plant Health Care PLC25 January 2006 Embargoed until 07.00 25 January 2006 Plant Health Care plc POST YEAR-END TRADING AND PRODUCT UPDATE Major support for Pre-Tect Product Increasing Interest for Myconate Trading Plant Health Care plc ("PHC" or the "Company"), a leading provider of naturalplant fertility products, is pleased to announce that since the update providedin its interim statement on 19 September 2005, it has continued to make goodprogress. Although some supplier delays have resulted in sales for the yearended 31 December 2005 being slightly below earlier expectations, better grossmargins and cost containment have been achieved which it believes will enablethe Company to report in line with expectations, before exceptional items, aspreviously referred to. The current year has started well, with the John Deere contract now wellunderway and indications that a number of new agreements will providesignificant revenue growth in Europe. The Company has, however, already begun toinvest in additional people, mainly in sales, to manage this growth and to moveforward some other initiatives, including Pre-Tect and Myconate testing. Major support for Pre-Tect Product The Company is pleased to announce very encouraging results followingindependent trials of its newly formulated, naturally derived Pre-Tect product.The tests were carried out in the UK on lettuce and spinach crops by several ofthe UK's largest salad growing companies and took place in several areas withdiverse climate and soil conditions. The tests were full farm replicated trialson whole head and cut leaf salads. Pre-Tect consistently increased the shelflife of the crops by 25% to 40% (3-5 days). Based on these trials, PHC hasentered into supply agreements with several of the largest European saladgrowers. Additionally, one of the largest supermarket chains in the UK isspecifying the use of Pre-Tect on all its salad crop purchases. Increasing Interest for Myconate PHC reported on the early results of its Myconate testing on 15 December 2005and still has tests ongoing with some of the world's largest agro chemical andseed companies. Mainly as a result of the trials that have already beencompleted in France, the largest corn growing country in Europe, a number ofmajor seed companies have expressed interest in expanding trials in 2006 andhave made initial enquiries about entering into distribution agreements. The Board is of the view that it should not consider any such arrangements untilafter completion of all the existing trials. At that time the Company will be ina better position to determine the most commercially advantageous routes tomarket for this product. PHC is currently reviewing various options for the development andcommercialisation of Myconate, which, it believes, will have applications acrossa wide range of the world's most valuable crops and agricultural plants, inparticular maize and soybean, the two highest value row crops in the world. PHC expects to release its full year results early March 2006 and it will thenprovide a further update on the status of the ongoing Myconate trials. For further information please contact: John Brady Jeremy Carey / Christian Taylor-WilkinsonPlant Health Care Tavistock CommunicationsTel: 020 7920 3150 (on 25/26 January) Tel: 020 7920 3150Tel: 001 6035253702 (thereafter) This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange