Primorus Investments PLC Investment Update for Fresho (8462D)

TIDMPRIM

RNS Number : 8462D

Primorus Investments PLC

02 May 2017

Primorus Investments

INVESTMENT UPDATE - FRESHO

Primorus Investments ("Primorus" or "The Company") (PRIM.L) is pleased to provide the following update on Fresho Pty Ltd, a company in which it invested GBP175,000 in September 2016, in line with its investment mandate.

Highlight:

- Fresho has informed the Company that annualised platform volume growth has risen circa fivefold to nearly A$100m in little over 6 months is a hugely impressive performance that has far exceeded our expectations

FRESHO PTY LTD

Following a meeting with management in Melbourne, Australia, the Board is pleased to report significant progress has been made by Fresho which has the potential to positively affect the value of our investment in it.

As set out in the announcement of 22 September 2016, Fresho provides a cloud-based software solution to the food service industry in Australia by standardising and streamlining what has historically been an ad hoc product bulk ordering process. The Fresho platform allows large wholesalers and national suppliers to interface with restaurants, hospitals, hotels, independent supermarkets, schools, cafes, pubs and clubs in an efficient and data-analysable manner.

Fresho continues to attract a large number of both suppliers and end users and this is being reflected in the order volumes through the platform as measured by annualised sales growth per month.

Primorus invested GBP175,000 at A$0.27 in September 2016 as part of an over-subscribed $3.1m issue. We are pleased to note that, since then, Fresho has informed the Company that the smoothed (allowing for Christmas) annualised volumes through the platform have accelerated circa fivefold to nearly A$100m from the time of investment.

Significantly, work regarding automating the on-boarding process for all suppliers and customers continues at pace, as does expanding the platform offering to new and existing customers. We expect the automation process to enhance potential gross margins around the core product and drive profitability hand-in-hand with platform volume over time.

We expect Fresho to launch a further round of funding in early 2018 to significantly expand its sales and software development activities both in Australia and potentially overseas and this may be a good time to reassess the value of our investment. Given the very impressive performance of the Fresho business since the date of our investment, we are confident a significant pricing uplift from our investment level is entirely possible.

We look forward to updating shareholders on future developments regarding both operational performance and funding milestones achieved by Fresho.

Alastair Clayton, Executive Director commented - "Having met with management some 7 months after having participated in a heavily backed funding round, with the main investor being one of Australia's largest venture capital funds, we came away very impressed with the progress made as measured by user numbers and, most importantly, orders as measured by annualised monthly order volumes.

Management remains focused and well supported financially and by an exceptional advisory Board of leading banking and food industry leaders."

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of EU Regulation 596/2014.

About Primorus

Primorus aims to be the leading early-stage investor in pre-IPO and listed companies with a particular focus on natural resources (primarily energy), consumer services and technology. Through its listed structure Primorus may provide individual investors a route to access a range of private and pre-IPO opportunities that are usually the preserve of family offices, VC and private equity funders.

For further information, please contact:

 
 Primorus Investments 
  plc:                        [phone] 
 Alastair Clayton 
 
 Nominated Adviser:           [phone] 
 Cairn Financial Advisers 
  LLP 
 James Caithie / Sandy 
  Jamieson 
 
 Broker:                      [phone] 
 Optiva Securities Limited 
 Christian Dennis / Jeremy 
  King 
 

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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May 02, 2017 02:01 ET (06:01 GMT)