Hygiene group reports progress but suspends shares dealing due to late filing
Daresbury hygiene group Byotrol published its unaudited results for the year today, and announced a temporary suspension in its shares dealings from tomorrow, October 1, until further notice.
The group explained that, while the directors are confident in the unaudited preliminary results announcement and believe the statements are close to final form, those statements still remain subject to change, and the group will not now be able to publish its audited annual report and accounts for the year ended March 31, by 30 September, as required by Rule 19 of the AIM Rules for Companies .
The accounting and audit process has been extended this year by the complexities with the accounting for the group’s Medimark acquisition in August 2018, and the restatement of the 2018 results for the effects of IFRS15.
Byotrol said: “We are now in the process of finalising the audit process for the year and the accounts will be published as soon as possible.
“Dealings in the company’s ordinary shares will, therefore, be temporarily suspended from 7.30am tomorrow, until such time as the accounts have been duly published in compliance with AIM Rule 19.”
The group added: “As set out in the preliminary results, the company continues to make good progress, had cash balances of £2.8m at the year end, and the directors remain confident in the outlook.”
The unaudited results show revenues for the year of £5.66m, compared with restated revenues of £1.82m in 2018, and a pre-tax profit of £230,000, compared with a pre-tax loss of £1.565m the previous year.
Gross profit was £3.61m, against a restated figure of £690,000 the previous year.
Gross cash of £2.8m was down from £3.85m a year ago, but more than sufficient to finance continued growth, said the board.
Byotrol said Medimark contributed £1.8m in sales in the seven months from acquisition until the year end.
The Byotrol24 product remains on trial in 207 target stores in the US, with sales to date satisfactory on minimal marketing spend.
Following extensive consumer and market research, which has clearly confirmed the value of the proposition to consumers, the company is now seeking a partner – financial or corporate – to accelerate growth.
Byotrol reports steadily increasing sales of hand hygiene product Invirtu alcohol-free hand sanitisers into healthcare and industry.
An exclusive supply contract has been signed with SC Johnson Professional, which will now be selling the group’s formulations into UK and Irish health services under their brand, supported by their logistics and sales and marketing reach
Continued progress has also been achieved in in EU surface care, including new professional product launches into the UK and further technical development agreements with sizeable companies, including with Tristel plc for a new sporicidal sanitiser for the healthcare market.
Separately, the group understands that Solvay SA continues to make good progress with its Actizone technology in consumer markets, in which the group maintains an ongoing commercial interest
Current Trading for the new financial year is meeting expectations for the year to date, although financial results are currently being held back by continued – and cautious – net spend in the US and by the delay in achieving financial synergies from the Medimark acquisition, while the earnout mechanism remains in place, until March 31, 2020.
Byotrol chairman, John Langlands, said: “I am pleased with progress across all aspects of the group.
“The acquisition of Medimark is a particularly encouraging development, as it provides the sales and marketing expertise to increase sales volumes across all of our technologies and should start to generate some economies of scale.
“We are seeing a great deal of consolidation in our markets, much of it driven by competitors with weak technologies or regulatory offers.”
He added: “The directors remain confident that our technology-led positioning is the right approach in this market and remain confident in our outlook.”
