REG - Anpario PLC - Full year trading statement

AnparioAnnouncement

24/01/2024 07:15

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RNS Number : 6862A  Anpario PLC  24 January 2024

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT RELATES TO THE DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION THAT QUALIFIED OR
MAY HAVE QUALIFIED AS INSIDE INFORMATION FOR THE PURPOSES OF ARTICLE 7 OF THE
MARKET ABUSE REGULATION (EU) 596/2014 AS IT FORMS PART OF UK DOMESTIC LAW BY
VIRTUE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION (WITHDRAWAL) ACT 2018.

 

 

Anpario plc
("Anpario", the "Group" or the "Company")

 

Full year trading statement

 

Anpario plc (AIM:ANP), the independent manufacturer of natural sustainable
animal feed additives for health, nutrition and biosecurity, provides the
following trading update for the year ended 31 December 2023 ("FY 2023"). The
figures used in this announcement remain subject to audit.

 

Trading update

The Group delivered a stronger operating performance in the second half of the
year, notably within the Orego-Stim® product brand. Group Sales are expected
to be not less than £30.8m and adjusted EBITDA(1) is now expected to be ahead
of current market expectations and not less than £4.4m. As part of regular
review processes, an impairment of research and development expenditure of
around £0.4m has been identified, adjusted EBITDA(1) is stated before this
charge. Our continued actions to recover raw material price inflation and a
favourable sales mix have delivered a further recovery in gross margins, and
the decision taken to reduce overheads will help support future profitable
growth.

 

Financial position

Our financial position remains strong and has further improved following
completion of the £9.0m tender offer in July 2023. Working capital has been
carefully managed to reduce stock levels, held to overcome logistic and supply
chain challenges, and improve cash generation. Year-end cash balances were
£10.6m (30 June 2023: £7.3m, including short-term investments of £0.1m), an
increase of £3.3m through the second half of the year, this is after £1.8m
of dividend payments being paid during the period.

 

Our strong balance sheet enables the Group to invest in innovative natural
product solutions, expand our global reach and explore earnings enhancing and
complementary acquisitions to continue the profitable development of the
Group. We remain confident in capturing the opportunities to grow the business
for the long-term benefit of all stakeholders.

 

India Partnership Agreement

The year has been challenging but our geographic and product diversity affords
the Group a measure of resilience. As such, we were also delighted to sign a
new agreement with our Indian partner who has successfully represented
Orego-Stim® since 2008. The agreement means Orego-Stim® will be blended
locally under licence, helping to speed up sales growth and offer greater
access to new market segments. Orego-Stim® is recognised as a leading
phytogenic product in India and this enhanced partnership offers more sales
opportunities in one of the world's fastest growing agriculture and
aquaculture markets.

 

Grant of patent

We are also pleased to announce the grant of a UK patent for our flagship
toxin-binder product, Anpro®. It is expected that this will provide a tax
benefit to the Group via the UK Patent Box scheme which allows companies to
apply a lower rate of corporation tax to profits attributable to qualifying
patents. We are working with our tax and patent advisors to clarify the scope
of qualifying patents and the tax benefit, provisionally it is anticipated
that there will be a £0.1m benefit to FY2023, around half of which is
backdated for previous years. This will be in addition to the benefit already
received under the same scheme related to our patent for Orego-Stim®.

 

FY2023 Results

The Group expects to publish its FY2023 final results on 20 March 2024.

 

1 Adjusted EBITDA represents operating profit for the year adjusted for:
acquisition costs; share-based payments and associated costs; and
depreciation, amortisation, and impairment charges.

 

Enquiries

 

 Anpario plc
 Richard Edwards, Chief Executive Officer  +44(0)7776 417 129
 Marc Wilson, Group Finance Director       +44(0)1909 537 380

 Shore Capital
 (Nominated Adviser and Broker)            +44 (0) 20 7408 4090
 Stephane Auton                            Corporate Advisory
 David Coaten
 Tom Knibbs
 Henry Willcocks                           Corporate Broking

 

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