Eden Research plc Year-end Trading Statement (5494B)

TIDMEDEN

RNS Number : 5494B

Eden Research plc

11 January 2018

Eden Research Plc

("Eden" or "Company")

Year-end trading update

Eden Research plc (AIM: EDEN), the AIM listed company that develops and supplies breakthrough biopesticide products and natural microencapsulation technologies to the global agrochemicals, animal health and consumer products industries, provides the following trading update for the year ended 31 December 2017.

The Group has delivered a robust performance for the year with revenue expected to be in the region of GBP1.9m, significantly up from GBP0.4m in 2016, with a loss before tax of approximately GBP0.9m (2016: loss of GBP1.9m). Cash at bank at 31 December 2017 was c. GBP3.7m (2016: GBP1.5m). This was a good performance since the 2017 growing season was challenging for fungicidal products in many southern European countries due to hard frosts in April followed by high heat and drought in the summer. These well-documented conditions resulted in the smallest harvests in 60 years in key markets such as France and Italy.

During the year, regulatory approval was granted for Eden's first agrochemical fungicide product, 3AEY, and first commercial sales were achieved in France with further approvals received in Cyprus, Albania and Portugal. The Company extended its 3AEY patent protection in Spain, Greece, Bulgaria and Cyprus and its nematicide patent was granted in the US. Overall, the Company is encouraged by the level of sales of 3AEY and its continued acceptance into the market.

Eden's patent portfolio grew to 78 granted patents during the year (2016: 74) with a further 52 pending patents (2016: 38).

Multiple commercial agreements were signed with Sipcam SpA ("Sipcam") during the year, including an Evaluation and Option Agreement, for which a fee of EUR0.6m (GBP0.5m) was paid to Eden, and a Collaboration Agreement establishing a long-term collaborative partnership.

As reported on 12 December 2016, Eden's distribution partner, Eastman Chemical, announced the submission of the regulatory dossiers for its new nematicide, Cedroz(TM) , which was developed by Eden. Cedroz will be a new tool for farmers to control a wide range of economically important nematodes with the first sales expected in advance of the 2020 growing season. Eastman made significant progress during the year with the submission of applications for the far-reaching registration of Cedroz across a number of territories and are building an impressive platform for the commercialisation of Cedroz as an important solution to the challenges that nematodes create for farmers globally.

Sean Smith, Chief Executive Officer of Eden, said: "2017 was a good year for the Company with a number of significant advancements made. We remain focussed on execution under our recent agreements with Sipcam and Eastman Chemical, as these partnerships provide us with resources and capabilities to achieve strong future growth. For the first time since launching 3AEY in 2015, Eden will benefit from a full season of sales in 2018 in the world's top three wine producing countries of Italy, France and Spain. Additionally, sales will continue to develop in Albania, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Kenya and Portugal.

"Despite challenging growing conditions in key territories and a shortened marketing campaign in France, we are pleased with the progress made in 2017 and we look forward to providing a further update when we report our full year results for the year ended 31 December 2017 in March."

For further information, please contact:

 
 Eden Research plc           www.edenresearch.com 
 Sean Smith, CEO 
  Alex Abrey, CFO            01285 359 555 
 
 Shore Capital (Nomad)       020 7408 4090 
 Stephane Auton / Patrick 
  Castle 
 
 Powerscourt                 020 7250 1446 
 Nick Dibden 
 
 
 

Notes:

Eden Research is a technology development and commercialisation company with intellectual property and expertise in encapsulation, terpenes and environmentally friendly technologies to provide naturally occurring solutions for the global agrochemicals, animal health, and consumer product industries.

Eden's encapsulation technology harnesses 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. The technology uses yeast cells that are a by-product of numerous commercial production processes to deliver a slow release of natural compounds for agricultural and non-agricultural uses. Terpenes are already widely used in the food flavouring, cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries.

Historically, terpenes have had limited commercial use in the agrochemical sector due to their volatility, phytotoxicity and poor solubility. Eden's platform encapsulation technology provides a unique, environmentally friendly solution to these problems and enables terpenes to be used as effective, low-risk agrochemicals.

Eden is developing these technologies through innovative research and a series of commercial production, marketing and distribution partnerships.

The Company has a number of patents and a pipeline of products at differing stages of development targeting specific areas of the global agrochemicals industry. To date, the Company has invested in the region of GBP12m in developing and protecting its intellectual property and seeking regulatory approval for products that rely upon the Company's technologies. Revenues earned by the Company have been modest whilst the Company has concentrated on securing patent protection for its intellectual property, gaining regulatory approvals, identifying suitable industrial partners, and entering into commercial agreements.

In May 2013, the three actives that comprise Eden's first commercial product, 3AEY, were approved as new ingredients for use in plant protection products. This represented a major milestone in the commercialisation of Eden's technology and is a significant accomplishment for any company. To illustrate this point, one should note that in all of 2013, Eden's approvals represented 3 of only 10 new active ingredients approved by the EC.

3AEY has been authorised for sale in Kenya, Malta, Greece, Bulgaria, Spain, Italy, France, Cyprus, Albania and Portugal.

Eden was admitted to trading on AIM on 11 May 2012 and trades under the symbol EDEN.

For more information about Eden, please visit: www.edenresearch.com.

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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January 11, 2018 02:00 ET (07:00 GMT)