Byotrol bemoans complete disappearance of AIM as funding solution
Infection prevention business Byotrol has confirmed flat product sales of £2m and pre-tax losses of £0.45m.
The company also claims to have exhausted all funding options on the public markets and has not ruled out coming off the stock market altogether.
The crisis in the business was highlighted by the sudden departure of chief executive Vivan Pinto in September.
Dr Trevor Francis, chairman of Byotrol said the review of operations has been conducted against a highly volatile economic environment and “an almost complete disappearance of AIM as a funding solution for micro caps, except for tax-based investment in new issues.”
He added: “Byotrol has no further capacity for EIS or VCT investment fund raising, having exhausted the tax efficient capacity in earlier years. Over recent years we have needed to finance our development almost completely from internally generated sources, especially via existing IP agreements, which has stifled growth and increased our risk profile.”
The AIM-listed company brought David Traynor back as interim chief executive, to a role he covered from 2013 to 2022.
However, the company is claiming an “encouraging performance” of its animal health business in the UK, now accounting for 65.0% of product sales, from 47.5% at the end of FY23.
However, Francis also added that the board was “pleased with Byotrol’s recent progress”, despite the continued difficult economic and market background and the need to make senior management changes. “Byotrol’s products are all now fit for purpose with regulators in our targeted markets and our product sales efforts are benefiting from the increased focus and operational efficiencies.”