REG - Nanoco Group PLC - Year End Trading Update

NanocoAnnouncement

02/07/2024 07:15

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RNS Number : 7075U  Nanoco Group PLC  02 July 2024

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION FOR THE PURPOSES OF ARTICLE 7 OF
THE MARKET ABUSE REGULATION (596/2014/EU) AS THE SAME HAS BEEN RETAINED IN UK
LAW AS AMENDED BY THE MARKET ABUSE (AMENDMENT) (EU EXIT) REGULATIONS (SI
2019/310) ("UK MAR").

Nanoco Group PLC

("Nanoco", the "Group", or the "Company")

2 July 2024

Year End Trading Update

 

Nanoco Group plc (LSE: NANO), a world leader in the development and
manufacture of cadmium-free quantum dots and other specific nanomaterials
emanating from our technology platform, today provides the following trading
update for the financial year ending 31 July 2024 ('FY24').

Operational overview

·      The Group continues to deliver all milestones in its two-year
Joint Development Agreements (JDAs) for second generation sensing materials
with ST Microelectronics and the Asian chemical company.

·      The new Device Fab is now fully operational and sample devices
have been shipped.

·      Following customer dialogue, the Group no longer expects to
receive a further production order for its validated first generation sensing
products during FY24.

·      The Group is working with its customer to understand the range of
possible outcomes and any potential impact on Nanoco beyond the end of the
financial year. The Group expects to issue a further update with the full year
results in October.

·      The Group continues with some small-scale commercial engagements
for customers interested in display materials, although no new anchor customer
has been signed at this time.

·    The Group continues to commit retained funds to expand our business
development activities as set out in our planned use of retained funds.

 

Financial overview

·      As a result of the delayed receipt of the second production
orders noted above, full year revenue is expected to be marginally below
consensus forecasts.(1)

·      The impact of the reduction in revenue alongside some small
one-off increases in overheads means Adjusted EBITDA is likely to be towards
the lower end of the range of market forecasts(2), subject to the results of
the year-end audit.

·      The impact of the delayed demand noted above on the Group's aim
of becoming cash breakeven during CY25 will depend on the duration of that
delay and subsequent speed of ramp up in demand for our technology.

·      The Group still expects its cash reserves to be approximately
£20.0m on 31 July 2024.

·      The Group remains committed to completing the return of capital
through its £3.0m broker managed share buy back programme with £1.3m having
been returned to date.

 

(1)The consensus revenue forecast is £8.35m, being the average of forecasts
from Cavendish and Edison.

(2)Adjusted EBITDA analyst forecasts range from £0.5m to £1.5m.The Group
expects to announce its full year results on 22 October 2024.

 

Brian Tenner, Chief Executive Officer of Nanoco, said:

"We continue to work hard across a range of products, customers and market
sectors to deliver the adoption of quantum dot technology. The number of
potential applications continues to grow strongly. The majority of our income
generating staff remain engaged in paid for development work on new products
in sensing and display applications. By investing across a broad range of
business development opportunities, we aim to further reduce any dependency on
a single customer and to deliver increases in shareholder value in the medium
term."

- Ends -

 

For further information, please contact:

 

Nanoco Group plc:

Brian Tenner,
CEO
44 (0)1928 761 404

Liam Gray, CFO & Company Secretary

 

Cavendish Capital Markets Limited (Financial Adviser & Joint Corporate
Broker):

Ed Frisby / George Lawson (Corporate Finance)
 
44 (0) 20 7220 0500

Tim Redfern / Charlie Combe (Corporate Broking)

Jasper Berry (Sales)

 

Turner Pope Investments (Joint Corporate Broker):

Andrew
Thacker
44 (0) 20 3657 0050

James Pope

 

Powerscourt (Public
Relations)
44 (0) 20 7250 1446

Elly Williamson

Pete Lambie

Nanoco@powerscourt-group.com

 

The person responsible for arranging for the release of this announcement on
behalf of Nanoco is Liam Gray, Chief Financial Officer.

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS

This announcement (including information incorporated by reference in this
announcement) and other information published by Nanoco may contain statements
about Nanoco that are or may be deemed to be forward looking statements.
Such statements are prospective in nature.  All statements other than
historical statements of facts may be forward looking statements.  Without
limitation, statements containing the words "targets", "plans", "believes",
"expects", "aims", "intends", "will", "may", "anticipates", "estimates",
"projects" or "considers" or other similar words may be forward looking
statements.

Forward looking statements inherently contain risks and uncertainties as they
relate to events or circumstances in the future.  Important factors such as
business or economic cycles, the terms and conditions of Nanoco's financing
arrangements, tax rates, or increased competition may cause Nanoco's actual
financial results, performance or achievements to differ materially from any
forward looking statements.  Due to such uncertainties and risks, readers are
cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward looking statements,
which speak only as of the date hereof.  Nanoco disclaims any obligation to
update any forward looking or other statements contained herein, except as
required by applicable law.

About Nanoco Group plc

 

Nanoco (LSE: NANO) is a nano-material production and licensing company,
specialising in the production of its patented cadmium free quantum dots
(CFQD®) and other patented nano-materials for use in the electronics
industries.

Founded in 2001 and headquartered in Runcorn, UK, Nanoco continues to build
out a world-class, patent-protected IP portfolio alongside the scaling of the
production for commercial orders.

Nano-materials are materials with dimensions typically in the range 1 - 100
nm. Nano-materials have a range of useful properties, including optical and
electronic. Quantum dots are a subclass of nano-material that have
size-dependent optical and electronic properties. Within the sphere of quantum
dots, the Group exploits different characteristics of the quantum dots to
target different performance criteria that are attractive to specific markets
or end-user applications such as the Sensor, Electronics and Display markets.
Nanoco's CFQD® quantum dots are free of cadmium and other toxic heavy metals,
and can be tuned to emit light at different wavelengths across the visible and
infrared spectrum, rendering them useful for a wide range of display
applications. Nanoco's HEATWAVE™ quantum dots can be tuned to absorb light
at different wavelengths across the near-infrared spectrum, rendering them
useful for applications including cameras and image sensors.

Nanoco is listed on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange, holds the
LSE's Green Economy Mark, and trades under the ticker symbol NANO. For further
information please visit: www.nanocotechnologies.com
(http://www.nanocotechnologies.com)

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