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 forecasts2,
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.
1The consensus
revenue forecast is £8.35m, being the average of forecasts from
Cavendish and Edison.
2Adjusted 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