Nanoco issues positive update ahead of release of annual figures

Nanoco, the University of Manchester spin-out, which develops materials used in the manufacture of monitors and TV screens, issued a positive update for the year ended July 31, 2022, today.

Ahead of publishing its annual results in October, the business, which is in the process of relocating from Manchester to a new site in Runcorn, said revenues are better than the previous year and its adjusted loss before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (LBITDA) was ahead of board expectations.

It revealed unaudited revenues of £2.4m, which are 10% better than the figures for 2021. The company also said continued proactive management of the cost base has resulted in a reduced adjusted LBITDA, slightly ahead of expectations.

The unaudited cash position at July 31, 2022, stood at £6.8m, an increase of £5m since January 31, 2022, which reflects the over-subscribed £5.4m equity raise (net) in June 2022, and good operating cash performance in the second half of fiscal year 2022.

Nanoco’s cash runway has been extended to calendar year 2025, beyond the expected point at which the group’s organic operations become self-financing, it said.

During the reporting period, Nanoco achieved a major work package – the fifth – for a European electronics customer signed in June 2022, further underpinning the group’s cash runway.

Additional development work and material supplies continue for a major Asian chemical company, while the group order book more than doubled year-on-year.

In its litigation case with tech giant Samsung over alleged infringement of the group’s intellectual property, it said the trial is set to begin on September 12, and is expected to last for one week. A pre-trial conference date has been set for this week, on August 18-19.

Nanoco said the trial judge has already issued a ruling rejecting Samsung’s motion to change the definitions of an important technical term in the case, previously decided in Nanoco’s favour at the Markman hearing.

Chief executive, Brian Tenner, said: “The group delivered two very important milestones in the second half of FY22.

“We emphatically won all five patents and all 47 claims that were contested by Samsung at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. We also delivered a significant contract extension with our European electronics customer that covers the work required to scale up and validate our nano-materials for production readiness.

“We move forward with confidence to the scheduled trial in the IP litigation on 12 September 2022 and to validating our products in H1 of FY23, ahead of expected visibility of production orders shortly thereafter.

“We are completing the relocation of our Manchester operations into the consolidated site in Runcorn to deliver operational benefits and real cash savings.”

He added: “The combination of strong progress on the IP litigation and the underlying organic business is a robust platform to deliver significant value to all of our stakeholders in the short to medium term.”

The company expects to announce its final results for the year ended July 31, 2022, in the second half of October 2022.

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