REG - Metir PLC - Operational Update

MetirAnnouncement

31/03/2025 07:15

For best results when printing this announcement, please click on link below:
https://newsfile.refinitiv.com/getnewsfile/v1/story?guid=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20250331:nRSe8336Ca&default-theme=true

RNS Number : 8336C  Metir PLC  31 March 2025

31 March 2025

Metir plc

 

("Metir" or the "Company")

 

Operational Update

 

Metir plc (AIM: MET), an international developer and provider of testing
solutions for unique and underserved public health and environmental markets,
is pleased to present an operational update.

 

The Company is working on the following operational and product development
projects in the water and environmental testing markets, focused on generating
early revenues and improvements in gross margins.

 

Qatar project update

 

The Company is pleased to confirm that full payment has been received from our
installation partner Avanceon, for settlement of the first tranche invoice of
€228k covering phase one Qatar project installation. The first tranche
balance was paid after upgrade and consumable items for the Continuous Toxic
Monitoring systems (CTMs) were delivered and are now being installed. The
Company has 27 CTMs located at water pumping stations in central Doha and its
suburbs that will give a rapid early warning of any toxins present in the
water supply enabling fast shutdown if needed. This high-profile project is
central to Kahramaa's (the public water utility in Qatar) policy of delivering
pure and safe potable water to its customers. Over half of the installed CTMs
are fully functioning and commissioning of all installed systems is expected
during April, after which a further contracted second tranche payment of
€228k is expected by the end of June 2025, signalling the completion of
phase one of the project.

 

The Company is preparing for an expected phase two tender with Kahramaa for a
significant number of additional CTMs to service a wider area of Doha. This is
expected to be issued later this year after full commissioning of the existing
units occurs and management believes it is in a strong position to secure this
additional tender due to its unique and proprietary online testing
capabilities of its CTMs.

 

MicroTox® Reagents and Devices

 

MicroTox® reagents are consumables that the Company manufactures itself in
York, England (in both frozen powder and frozen liquid form). MicroTox® is
the industry standard water testing reagent brand with MicroTox® LX devices
installed in testing laboratories worldwide. The Company is pleased to report
it has received an increase to 27 firm orders for MicroTox®LX devices for
delivery in H1 2025 that use MicroTox® consumables with increasing enquiries
about devices for H2 delivery. This significantly exceeds management's initial
forecasts for the year.

 

As reported previously, the MicroTox® FX device which is handheld for use in
the field, is undergoing an upgrade and production of these new units is on
track to restart production in April following increasing sales enquiries.

 

The CTMs when in routine use in Qatar also use deep frozen liquid MicroTox®
reagents and other specific consumables supplied by the Company which will
generate significant, repeat revenues for the Company.

 

PFAS Systems

 

Polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) 'forever chemicals' are a group of manmade
chemicals designed to be non-stick, waterproof, and flame-resistant that have
been linked to various health problems, including certain cancers which are of
major concern in key markets like the US and increasingly so worldwide. The
three-and-a-half-year PhD study using the Company's Mass Spectroscopy
technology at Swansea University, sponsored by the Company has completed and
is due to be published shortly. This will include data demonstrating that the
Company's system developed specifically for PFAS testing is world-leading, can
detect more than current and conventional techniques and can accurately
measure the widest range of PFAS chemicals in soils and water. The Company
believes this and other proprietary features gives its technology significant
competitive advantages, including mobile on site testing capability and fast
results, compared to other PFAS measurement technologies.

 

In April 2025 testing for PFAS will begin using the Company's system with
samples taken from a river in Wales by Swansea University working together
with a significant stakeholder in the environmental sector. The Company is
pursuing a number of different commercialisation strategies, including
partnerships. Accurate monitoring down to the very low levels in environmental
legislation is becoming essential and is a legal requirement in many countries
particularly in the US.

 

One of the Company's early interested partners is a world leading major US
water safeguarding company and it has rented a unit from the Company, now that
the Swansea University preliminary results are known, so that it can test its
PFAS technology. The Company expects to report its progress with its PFAS
partnerships later this year.

 

Sulphate Reducing Bacteria Kits

 

As previously reported, the Company has received significant commercial
interest in its Sulphate Reducing Bacteria kits called QuickChek®SRB, and is
therefore pleased to report resumption of production of its upgraded
QuickChek®SRB kits with sales starting during Q2 2025. These kits are
industry leading, allowing customers to get test results within minutes rather
than days as with other brands. End customers include Saudi Aramco, enabling
them to closely monitor bacterial corrosion in their pipeline systems.
Previous QuickChek®SRB sales levels were significant and the Company is
planning to grow this market given the increasing supply requests it is
receiving.

 

Business Development

 

The Company's opportunity pipeline is strong, but with limited working capital
headroom, management is cognisent of managing the pace of production scale up.
The Company is therefore focusing on near term, regular sales income together
with careful, limited longer term project development. In the short-term this
means ramping up sales of MicroTox® reagents through the sale of MicroTox®
LX, FX and CTMs instruments. In addition, the sales of QuickChek® SRB kits
are a simple but important high revenue and high margin generator.

 

For the longer term the Company sees significant growth for its CTM
technologies in major cities across the world as the demand and importance for
continuous early warning monitoring of toxins in water grows, including  in
new 'smart cities'. These cities and towns typically require the best
technology to be installed from the outset for high standards of health and
environmental safety. The Company's Tethys Purity® water concept, which is a
combination of monitoring and testing technologies, is ideally suited to this
growing market. In particular, the Middle East region has substantial growth
potential in this area enabling us to build on the Company's success in Doha,
Qatar.

 

The Company is close to completing its smart digital integration capability so
that its devices can integrate and communicate remotely to a centralised
dashboard for continuous data monitoring and control. This is particularly
suitable for integration in its CTMs which will be offered for phase two of
the Qatar project and all future projects. The technology is a powerful tool
to monitor and record data and has machine learning (AI) capabilities so that
data trends can be assessed with predictive capabilities.

 

The Company has increasing interest and enquiries from industrial companies
that use large amounts of water in their processes and also discharge
effluent. The Company's unique CTM technology together with a business
partner's in-line capability to detect metals in effluent gives the Company a
leading-edge and continuous industrial water testing capability  as part of
our integrated Tethys Purity ®solution.

 

We are looking to commercialise our PFAS technology this year with partners
after is has been successfully used at Swansea University for over three years
with excellent results. Our target market includes major companies
specialising in the removal of PFAS chemicals in soils and water which is a
rapidly growing market.

 

The Company also intends to commercialise its unique Pathogen Detector that
can detect viruses and other pathogens in water within minutes. This includes
the organism Cryptosporidium which can be found in sewage polluted water.
There have been major outbreaks reported of this pathogen, only recently in
the UK and other countries which has been damaging to public health. The
Company is already in discussions with a UK water utility who has recognised
the advantages of this prototype device over other methods and ways to fund
final development are being considered. The Company is excited by this early
interest and will report progress subject to funding.

 

Cash

 

With receipt of the Qatar project phase one full payment and the recent
receipt of another research and development tax credit, for 2023 expenditure
of £112k (an increase above the original £80k estimate) the Company confirms
there has been no material change to the cashflow forecasts presented in its
H1 2024 Interim Update on 12 November 2024. The Company's current cash balance
is £326k and working capital headroom remains dependent on the Company's
ability to collect receivables for work performed in a timely manner.

 

Bob Moore, Metir's Acting Executive Chairman, commented:

 

"We continue to operate the Company with strong controls over expenditure and
I am delighted to report the solid operational progress across all areas of
the business. Receiving full payment for phase one of our flagship project in
Qatar now enables us to finalise commissioning of this high-profile project
which will help springboard the Company to the next level of growth. We have
steadily increasing sales in all our product areas, so we are now past the
stabilisation phase of the business after integration of the Modern Water
asset acquisition, enabling us to move into the growth phase. We look forward
to rapidly developing the previously latent potential of the company using our
wide-ranging product capabilities, future products near to commercialisation
and most importantly all driven by our talented team."

 

 

 Metir plc                                                      +44 (0) 20 3657 0050

 Bob Moore, Acting Executive Chairman & CEO                     via Turner Pope

 Singer Capital Markets (Nominated Adviser & Joint Broker)      +44 (0)20 7496 3000

 Alex Bond / Oliver Platts

 Turner Pope Investments (TPI) Limited (Joint Broker)           +44 (0) 20 3657 0050

 Andy Thacker / James Pope

 

About Metir

 

Metir is highly experienced in the development, manufacture and supply of
microelectronics instrumentation for markets requiring analytical testing in
public and environmental health markets. The Company has acquired and
integrated the assets of Modern Water with Microsaic Systems' technologies
resulting in comprehensive water testing and other toxic testing capabilities
including world leading PFAS detection technology. Metir's products and
solutions are commercially available through global markets via direct sale
and a network of regional and country specific distributors and partners.

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact
rns@lseg.com (mailto:rns@lseg.com)
 or visit
www.rns.com (http://www.rns.com/)
.

RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our
Privacy Policy (https://www.lseg.com/privacy-and-cookie-policy)
.   END  UPDFZGFFRGZGKZM