Hygiene group working flat out to fulfill growing order book

Cheshire hygiene group Byotrol is expecting a year of ‘significant growth’ as demand for its products soars.

The Daresbury group said in a trading update that it is working at full capacity as awareness of the importance for cleansing becomes more acute among customers and consumers following the coronavirus pandemic.

It said it continues to experience exceptional demand for its technologies across all its markets due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We expect this to continue for at least the first quarter of FY2021 and likely beyond, and are now expecting to benefit significantly from a secular shift towards the heightened importance of infection prevention, cleanliness and hygiene, whether personal, institutional or environmental.”

During the year ended March 31, 2020, the group expects to report revenues of around £6m. This excludes a material, but delayed, new license contract that was eventually closed in mid-April and that will now contribute to fiscal year 2021

Adjusted EBITDA, before exceptionals, is forecast to be around £250,000.

An exceptional gain of approximateley £400,000, as previously announced, resulted from the renegotiation and early closure of the earn-out with the vendors of Medimark Scientific.

Gross cash balances at March 31, 2020 were £1.7m.

Net of the group’s invoice discount facility of £300,000, net cash balances were £1.4m.

An additional £300,000 cash was received on April 2, 2020, having been due on March 31, relating to a stage payment for a previously-announced technology development agreement.

Since the start of the new fiscal year, Byotrol said it has a strong order book exceeding £2m and expects to generate record sales in the first quarter of the year.

There are also many additional orders still being assessed for deliverability against the supply chain constraints being experienced across the whole industry sector as a result of the lockdown measures.

The management team is also working on a number of longer-term product supply contracts and technology licenses, including for its Byotrol24 product in the US.

And while it expects the current very high levels of demand to ease at some stage over the course of the current fiscal year, the group said it also expects business and consumers to take more proactive responsibility for protecting individuals against infection risk, leading to sustained demand for anti-microbials, further acceptance of the role of regulators as opinion leaders on safe and efficacious anti-microbial chemistries, for which Byotrol is well-positioned, and international supply chains to improve and reduce the very high current level of unfulfilled orders.

Byotrol said it has been positioning for such trends for many years and expects them to favour technologies like its own, presenting exceptional growth opportunities for the group.

The directors believe the group is “very well placed to benefit from current trends” and expect the current annual trading period to be one of significant growth in both revenue and EBITDA.

Chief executive David Traynor said: “We continue to operate at full capacity, making and selling as much product as we can as quickly as we can in these difficult times.

“Our technologies are getting interest from all over the world now.

“We are increasingly well positioned for further growth post COVID-19 and are enthused and optimistic about the opportunities ahead.”