Byotrol Share Discussion Threads

[loafofbread] 07/4/2024 19:43

Not yet.

See how the week and the TR1 go!

DT and the market have gifted this company to anyone prepared to step in.

There will be a host of outside 'advisors' trying to get a deal together so they can make a £100K on the fees.

[sikhthetech] 07/4/2024 18:31

There is a very slim chance of a white knight pre-vote. However, I believe if these go to the vote then the company will either delist or go into administration.

Do some research into TLY.

Provides services to NHS via a diversified business model, Urgent Care (NHS 111, Urgent Care Centres), Elective Care (help reduce NHS waiting lists), Company Wellbeing services.

Mcap only £8m, H1-2024 revenues were £55m


Virtually all of 1gw and his mates stories have been proven to be wrong, here, trmr, rthm and TLY etc etc.

[maxk] 07/4/2024 18:26

You got a notifiablle interest here loaf?

[loafofbread] 07/4/2024 15:40

All the heavy lifting has been done with regard to the products and formulations.

Forced selling and booking end of tax year losses has been the story.

Let's see what this week brings.

[loafofbread] 07/4/2024 15:36

Less than 2 years ago they thought 3.25p was a decent price.

35 times more than our current share price

Todays price is as artificial as you could get.

The second relates to the Convertible Bond. The Group issued a Convertible Bond for GBP1m in July 2022 to new and existing investors in the Company, including Board directors. The Loan Notes have a term of five years, are senior in ranking, unsecured and convertible at investors' option into ordinary shares in the capital of the Company ("Ordinary Shares") at a price of 3.25 pence per Ordinary Share, representing a 30% premium to the mid-price of the Company's share price at close of business on 26 July 2022. The Loan Notes carry a coupon of 9% per annum, payable quarterly in arrears. Based on the issue size of GBP1,000,000, the Loan Notes would, if converted, represent approximately 30,769,230 Ordinary Shares, amounting to 6.8% of the current issued share capital of the Company. However, as the average Byotrol share price since the issue of the Convertible Bond has been below the 3.25p conversion price, these are currently classed as non-dilutive and do not feature in the Denominator calculation above.

[loafofbread] 07/4/2024 15:32

Going concern

The Directors have considered trading and cash flow forecasts prepared for the Group, assuming a continued marginal increase in product sales and some further reasonable reductions in costs. Based on these, and a continued confidence in being able to accelerate cash from existing IP agreements or potentially a modest fundraise, the Directors are satisfied that the Group will continue to be able to meet its liabilities as they fall due for at least twelve months from the date of these results. On this basis, they consider it appropriate to have adopted the going concern basis in the preparation of the interim results, which were approved by the Board of Directors on 5 December 2023.

[loafofbread] 07/4/2024 15:31

Worth reading Decembers results again.

Add it all together and its worth a lot more than £400k!

Professional

H1 product revenues increased by 8% to GBP1.81m versus GBP1.68m in the comparable period (6 months of September 2022). No royalty income was received in H1, compared to GBP0.22m in the comparable period.

Gross profit on product sales was flat at GBP0.74m.

As has been long planned since the acquisition of Medimark, but delayed by and to some degree a result of the pandemic, our Professional division has now undergone a reorientation towards animal and (niche) human healthcare, with continued tightening of focus on three core technology platforms, reduced skus, regulatory acceptance across Europe, and operational excellence.

In the period under review Professional product revenue was split 73% animal health, 22%% human health, 5% FM and other, versus 56%, 32% and 12% in the previous full year. We are very encouraged by recent successes in the UK, having secured favoured-supplier status with some of the UK's best known animal welfare charities as well as leading wholesalers and corporate vet groups.

We have now completed the upgrade of all our core formulations in animal health surface care, to chemistries based on our proprietary Cruise formulation and sold under the brands Anigene and Processus. Next summer we will be launching a ready-to-use formulation for smaller customers and will then also be able to look afresh at consumer markets, where we already have some brand equity.

Our human health product offerings are due for upgrade to the Cruise platform, to be sold under Chemgene branding. We have already launched a Cruise-based surface disinfectant product as a range extension to Processus instrument decontamination products, which we are selling into animal and human health markets.

Export sales were behind plan in the period under review and we are now seeking dedicated international sales resource. There is a substantial upside here for the Company and its existing products and technologies, almost all of which have been designed to satisfy UK and EU regulators.

Consumer

H1 revenues decreased to GBP0.21m from GBP0.34m and gross profit to GBP0.11m from GBP0.14m, with gross margin increasing to 51.4% from 41.4%, a result (as in the Professional segment) of focusing on higher margin product areas.

Consumer remains niche for us in product sales at present, without a dedicated commercial and/or marketing lead except of course for longstanding customers Boots (alcohol free hand sanitisers) and Goodsmile (petcare and human healthcare in Japan).

We are also gradually increasing our presence on Amazon and we now expect to launch consumer versions of our new technologies, especially Cruise, direct to consumers on that platform. Sales on Amazon have grown very rapidly in the last 6 months and are now a top 3 consumer customer, and a top 10 Byotrol customer overall, with new listings to come.

Technology Portfolio

Our portfolio continues to strengthen, having now fixed on three core platforms that we intend to support through the final regulatory approvals in the EU:

-- 'Cruise' technology platform is now formulated and in-market in concentrate form and shortly in ready-to-use format. It is a high performance, regulatory compliant (UK and EU) surface disinfectant with low cost-in-use for multiple surfaces and healthcare environments. We would like to think it is leading edge compared to most competitive products in the market and in various iterations is already replacing a number of legacy formulations.

-- Artemis surface disinfection - natural and sustainable technology with excellent anti-microbial performance, especially against viruses, which we are now targeting to surface care environments including humans, animals and specialist food environments. This technology fits with market trends towards sustainability and in the near future we will be working hard to achieve accelerated UK and EU regulatory approval, with faster roll-out at a significantly lower cost than normal routes. (For information: accelerated approval routes require that formal approval is achieved before products can be put into market, a 12-month process).

-- Invirtu hand sanitisers - alcohol free skin sanitisation with an upgraded and more robust formulation, but with the same germ kill and dermatological benefits.

Given the Company's current focus on its trading business, we have temporarily but substantially reduced investment in developing new IP. We continue to see substantial value in seaweed-based antivirals and in other natural anti-microbials, but resource constraints mean we remain early in the dedicated sales cycle.

Intellectual Property Sales and Licensing

The two most active IP-based projects remain live and are progressing steadily:

-- Actizone - the long-lasting antimicrobial surface sanitiser IP that Byotrol co-developed and then sold to Solvay SA in 2018, with an ongoing sales commission payable to Byotrol on Solvay's sales. This now has multiple global regulatory approvals. To date, commissions to Byotrol have been non-material, but recent projections suggest it will become financially material to Byotrol by FYE 2025, assuming continued customer traction and further product launches in both retail and institutional segments.

-- Integrated Resources ("IRI")/Byotrol24 - the EPA registered long-lasting antimicrobial that Byotrol sold to IRI in 2022. This sale was conditional on IRI paying to Byotrol US$1.4m over 4 years to February 2026, plus low single-digit royalties and a material percentage of the additional sales proceeds should IRI onward sell the formulation. Since the agreement, IRI has sub-licensed the formulation to a globally recognised US hygiene brand, which is currently test-marketing and expecting to proceed to a full US launch in Autumn 2024. Royalties received from IRI have however been negligible to date.

As reported in recent trading updates, the team's recent efforts have been focused more on monetizing current IP agreements than generating new transactions, to (a) support the Company's investment in growing a sustainable trading business and (b) reflect current trading at licensee and alliance partners in their core markets. One such agreement has been reached since period end, with Byotrol agreeing to terminate by mutual consent a historic license with Turtle Wax Europe Limited in return for a cash payment. This was a 5 year license agreement signed in January 2021 over Byotrol long-lasting anti-microbial surface technology for in-car use, and sold to EU consumers. Turtle Wax has since de-listed the product due to a change in strategy and agreed with us a settlement sum for future guaranteed minimum royalties.

Balance sheet

Our balance sheet at the end of the first half shows net assets of GBP4.9m, down GBP0.7m from GBP5.6m at the end of FY23. Of this GBP3.2m is held within our intangible assets, in line with the previous year-end, and represents assets created on the acquisition of Medimark combined with the value of our own internally generated IP.

We have continued to develop our technical and operational capabilities and have invested GBP0.18m in our IP and associated regulatory costs in the first six months of FY24 (see Note 7). In addition, we invested in our finished goods to support the Chemgene Medlab launch as well as other sales initiatives, with inventory increasing to GBP632k at the end of September, compared to GBP0.49m at the end of March 2023. We expect our inventory to fall back again in the second half of the year as these launches and initiatives gain momentum.

Our cash balance at the end of September was GBP0.51m, down GBP0.18m from GBP0.69m at the FY23 year-end, reflecting careful management of our cash balance, despite the investments noted above.

Management Changes

Byotrol has announced a series of Board changes in the period:

-- Dr Trevor Francis was appointed Non-Executive Chairman of the Company on 26 April 2023
-- Ashley Head, serial entrepreneur and long-standing Byotrol shareholder joined the Board as a Non-Executive Director on 13 September 2023

-- Vivan Pinto, CEO since 22 November 2022 left the Company on 26 September 2023 to pursue other interests. David Traynor, Vivan's predecessor and still on the Company board stepped in as Interim CEO, with expectations of handing over to a newly hired CEO by mid-2024.

Outlook

The Directors remain completely focused on Byotrol moving to sustainable profits. We recognize this has taken longer than expected and with a level of operating costs to bring about these improvements that are undoubtedly hurting, but we have done so during an exceptionally long duration of market volatility, and no external equity capital raising since 2018. We are encouraged by the radical improvements in margins, operational KPIs and by the delivery of a product range that is future-proofed against EU and UK regulatory environments.

Our challenge now is to improve sales execution further, especially in export and in niche human health, and to then reallocate more resources back to monetise our outstanding IP portfolio.

David Traynor

[mudbath] 07/4/2024 12:32

Extracted from the RNS dated March 28th 2024

"The Directors do not believe the current market valuation reflects the underlying strength of the Company's product business, its IP portfolio or the current market opportunity."

The share price on the date that this statement regarding undervaluation was made happened to be 0.15p or fifteen times higher than the price at which one can currently purchase the stock.

Bargain then or what ?

[loafofbread] 05/4/2024 21:46

craffert,

Just out of prison or just had a few beers?

[mudbath] 05/4/2024 20:26

firth
There is every chance that BYOT will retrace to around 0.085p on the offer, at which level they would remain of interest.
(Good to see TERN rocketing upwards today!)

[craffert] 05/4/2024 19:25

EBITDA loss means they may be worth zero. Any fundraise after delist has to be £1mn just to create runway. While the marketcap is a pittance the reality here is that any alternative will have to arrive over the next two trading weeks as the re-registered private funding round czn be done at basically any price and virtually wipe out today's equity

[mudbath] 05/4/2024 18:33

Agreed loafofbread; for I estimate that through these mid price accumulations, their total now exceeds 5%.
It will be interesting to identify the interested party, should they elect to declare.

[loafofbread] 05/4/2024 16:30

Looks like the other side of the trades coming in.

10,000,000 buy just posted to add to the 7,950,000 from earlier.

Some TR1 owed for next week.

[firth] 05/4/2024 14:31

I was thinking of getting a few this lunch time Mudbath but the spread was huge.

Looks to me that the MM were not rushing to sell.

[sikhthetech] 05/4/2024 14:28

I wouldn't be surprised to see it either Mudbath.
Question is potential bidders had that opportunity for months. The company had indicated delisting months ago.

It's a pure gamble. If it goes to the vote then it's goodbye, either private or administration.

[loafofbread] 05/4/2024 14:25

Tristel have a MCap of £200M and £10M in the bank.

Their paper is worth 10/15 times T/O.

They have just paid Byotrol £250K? to buy the IP on one part of one deal.

If they can't see value in a cash/share takeover at 1p then they are not doing their job.

Same goes for the pet outfit I mentioned a few weeks ago.

[mudbath] 05/4/2024 14:11

Well as the Byotrol share price has been manoeuvred downwards to almost zero I would suggest that there is considerable value to be had through investing at around 0.09p; for little has changed since the share price was ten or more times higher.
I would not be surprised to see corporate action prior to the General Meeting.

[sikhthetech] 05/4/2024 13:26

Mudbath

"there is surely value to be extracted here, at the current price, whatever the voting outcome."

It makes a huge difference as to the way the voting goes. If delisted then anyone buying now will get diluted and trapped in their holdings for potentially years to come. Although it may work out well in years to come.

"Byotrol's key shareholders will surely seek to have Traynor removed, for his tenure as CEO has proven disastrous, particularly in respect of the Medimark Scientific acquisition."

If key shareholders wanted to remove DT, then they would done that already.

[football] 05/4/2024 13:11

think the management or one of there friends is buy everything thats going to make sure this deal happens

[mudbath] 05/4/2024 13:04

The recent 7,950,000 @ 0.075p looks to be on the buy side, effectively mopping up this morning's sales.
Similar mid priced(ish) transactions have been a feature over recent days.
Fingers crossed that the buyer will become more aggressive as those inclined to abandon ship reconsider potential valuations.

[loafofbread] 05/4/2024 12:39

MMs happy to take all this stock on board at 0.06 so assume they have a buy order on the other side?

[mudbath] 05/4/2024 11:28

A MBO post re-registration as a private company could well look the best option for all concerned.
Out with the old guard and in with the new.

[mudbath] 05/4/2024 11:09

Fwiw, my 1% opposed the resolution.
However, as "key shareholders" seem to be voting in favour, then a delisting looks to be very much on the cards.
As clocktower (and subsequently loafofbread) observed, there is surely value to be extracted here, at the current price, whatever the voting outcome.
Byotrol's key shareholders will surely seek to have Traynor removed, for his tenure as CEO has proven disastrous, particularly in respect of the Medimark Scientific acquisition.
Now where is that "White Knight" ?

[cliffpeat] 05/4/2024 09:29

@loafofbread

Are you willing to indicate

a. which way you will be voting on resolutions (for/against)?
b. your estimate/assumption of dilution if delisting goes through and £500k raise takes place?

[loafofbread] 05/4/2024 08:25

£400k MCap for BYOT is just ridiculous.

I can't see any reason why this won't be worth 10X that a few years out.

Makes little difference if listed or not other than to force it down to a false price as others panic and sell out.

Added a few million for the journey.