Nanoco hails half year milestones
HI-TECH manufacturer Nanoco, the pioneering nanomaterials company, has provided an upbeat assesment of its prospects as it reported half year results.
The AIM-listed group headquartered in Manchester and with a manufacturing facility at The Heath in Runcorn, said the highlights of the six months to the end of January include two major milestone events towards the commercialisation of its cadmium-free quantum dot technology.
Quantum dots are microscopic, fluorescent semiconductor nanoparticles with a diameter that is about 1/1000th the width of a human hair.
They have a variety of uses, ranging from LCD displays, lighting to biomedical applications. Nanoco’s innovative technology allows for the manufacture of highly efficient quantum dots that are environmentally friendly as they are free of cadmium and heavy-metals.
Arguably the most significant development of the half year was the announcement by the South Korean electronics group LG that it would launch large-screen LCD TVs incorporating Nanoco quantum dots. These TVs, which will be available in the US in the near future, will be the first commercially available display products to use Nanoco’s technology.
Another important milestone in the half year was The Dow Chemical Company, which is Nanoco’s worldwide licensing partner for the display industry, beginning construction of the world’s first large-scale, cadmium-free quantum dot manufacturing plant in Cheonan, South Korea. Production at this plant is expected to begin in mid-2015.
Revenues in the period were £1.61m (H1 2014: £0.68m) and the loss before tax was £4.13m (H1 2014: loss of £4.99m).
Chairman Anthony Clinch said: “We’re delighted by the pace of progress towards the commercialisation of our cadmium-free quantum dot technology in the display market.
“Our worldwide licensing partner Dow expects to begin production in mid-2015 at the world’s first large-scale production plant for cadmium-free quantum dots. LG Electronics is moving closer to the commercial launch of the LG Ultra HD ColourPrime TV range unveiled earlier this year, which will mark the first consumer electronics products to incorporate Nanoco technology.”
Looking ahead, he said: “We have made considerable technical progress in our other key target markets of LED general lighting, solar and bio-imaging. Going forwards we intend to put more emphasis on these additional markets, all of which offer major commercial potential.”
Nanoco said it is continuing to explore moving from AIM to the full list.
