TIDMEDEN
RNS Number : 6928O
Eden Research plc
11 February 2021
11 February 2021
Eden Research Plc
("Eden" or "Company")
Year-end trading update
Eden Research plc (AIM: EDEN), the AIM-quoted company focused on
sustainable biopesticides and plastic-free formulation technology
for use in global crop protection, animal health and consumer
products industries, provides the following unaudited trading
update for the year ended 31 December 2020.
Financials
Revenue for the year is expected to be approximately GBP1.6m
(2019: GBP2.0m) with a loss before tax and statutory operating loss
of approximately GBP2.6m (2019: GBP1.4m). Product sales during the
period were affected by the impact of the global pandemic on the
hospitality industry which, in turn, affected wine grape production
methods and, inevitably, the widespread use of crop protection
products. In addition, regulatory processes around the world were
impacted by wide-scale disruptions to the working practices of
government agencies as a direct consequence of the pandemic. As a
result, a number of product approvals which had been expected in
the year, and which should have resulted in product sales, were
delayed.
The cash position at the year-end was GBP7.3m (2019: GBP0.5m),
aided by a fundraise of GBP10.4 million (before expenses) in March
2020, which saw multiple new institutional investors joining the
share register. This has provided Eden with the financial resources
to invest in the development of its insecticide and seed treatment
products.
Corteva
At the beginning of 2020, Eden signed a one-year exclusive
Evaluation Agreement with Corteva. Corteva (NYSE: CTVA) is the
fourth largest agriculture input company in the world and is a
publicly traded, pure-play agriculture company created by the
combination of DuPont Crop Protection, DuPont Pioneer seeds and Dow
AgroSciences. This agreement allowed Corteva time to exclusively
evaluate Eden's Sustaine(R) encapsulation technology and several
formulations in specific seed treatment applications. If
successful, it was anticipated that this would lead to Corteva
being granted exclusive distribution rights, on terms to be
negotiated, initially targeting several major crops, including
broad acre crops.
This process is currently moving forward, as expected, and the
Company will provide an update as soon as practicable.
This represents Eden's first collaborative development efforts
in the area of seed treatments as well as the first disclosed
collaboration with a global leader in agricultural inputs.
Additionally, this is the most comprehensive work done by to date
on major broad-acre crops using Eden's technologies.
Development and Operations
Development work continued largely as hoped during 2020,
including on Eden's insecticide and seed treatment products. In
addition, the Company continues to work with a number of parties to
develop products that avoid polymer encapsulation using Eden's
proprietary Sustaine(R) technology with third party active
ingredients.
In order to provide the flexibility and control to advance the
Company's growth, Eden has invested in setting up its own
laboratory facilities on site, alongside a new office. Relocating
to the new site at Milton Park in Oxfordshire, one of Europe's
leading science and technology communities, means that the Company
is now able to undertake development work in-house for the first
time, which allows increased flexibility, speed and efficiency.
As well as moving to new laboratory facilities, the Eden team
expanded in 2020 with the recruitment of the new team members who
are already making valuable contributions to the expansion of
Eden's capabilities and providing support to its existing and
potential customers. Overheads associated with Eden's new in-house
capabilities are partially offset by the Company's decreased
reliance on external labs and contractors.
Organic status
During 2020, Eden announced that its three EU-registered active
ingredients, geraniol, eugenol and thymol, have all been approved
for use in organic farming, following inclusion in the EU's Organic
Production Regulation. This opens up new commercial opportunities
for the Company and is relevant to all products that utilise the
Company's three EU-registered active ingredients. Following the
allowance of Eden's active ingredients in organic agriculture,
Eden's formulated products are now receiving approval for use on
organic farms across a range of European countries. The performance
of Eden's products coupled with the allowed uses in organic
agriculture helps to further differentiate Eden's products and
provides a strong competitive advantage in comparison with
conventional synthetic pesticides.
Sean Smith, Chief Executive Officer of Eden, said : "It has been
an unprecedented year for businesses across the globe, and Eden has
not been immune to the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, we are proud of the resilience we have demonstrated
against this exceptional backdrop and the continued progress we
have made in advancing our strategy and positioning Eden for growth
in the rapidly growing biopesticides market.
The financial year has seen us expand our footprint, both
geographically and through new product development, supported by
the successful fund raise delivered in March 2020.
We were also delighted to be the first company to receive the
London Stock Exchange's Green Economy Mark in January 2021. This
recognises the role we are playing in supporting the transition to
sustainable agriculture and highlights our credentials as an
attractive 'green' investment opportunity on the London
market."
" The information contained within this announcement (the
"Announcement") is deemed by the Company to constitute inside
information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU)
No. 596/2014. Upon the publication of this Announcement via
Regulatory Information Service, this inside information is now
considered to be in the public domain. "
For further information contact:
www.edenresearch.com
Eden Research plc
Sean Smith
Alex Abrey 01285 359 555
Cenkos Securities plc (Nominated advisor
and broker)
Giles Balleny / Camilla Hume/ Mark Connelly
(corporate finance)
Michael Johnson (sales) 020 7397 8900
Hawthorn Advisors (Financial PR)
Lorna Cobbett / Victoria Ainsworth eden@hawthornadvisors.com
Notes to Editors:
Eden Research is an AIM quoted company that develops and
supplies breakthrough biopesticide products and natural,
plastic-free microencapsulation technologies to the global crop
protection, animal health and consumer products industries.
Eden's Sustaine(R) encapsulation technology is used to harness
the biocidal efficacy of naturally occurring chemicals produced by
plants (terpenes) and can also be used with both natural and
synthetic compounds to enhance their performance and ease-of-use.
Sustaine microcapsules are naturally derived, plastic-free,
biodegradable micro-spheres derived from yeast extract. It is one
of the only viable, proven and immediately registerable solutions
to the microplastics problem in formulations requiring
encapsulation.
Eden has numerous patents and a pipeline of products at
differing stages of development targeting specific areas of the
global agrochemicals industry. Eden was admitted to trading on AIM
in May 2012.
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