28 October 2013 -- PuriCore (LSE: PURI), a global company focused on safe and effective protection against the spread of infectious pathogens, today announces its Interim Management Statement for the period from 1 July 2013 to 27 October 2013, including information in relation to the financial performance of the business for the nine-month period and the third quarter ended 30 September 2013.
Financial Highlights (unaudited)
- Strong Q3 Group revenue growth, up 32.8% (33.7% at constant currency) to $14.6m (Q3 2012: $11.0m)
- Nine-month Group revenue up 6.5% (7.5% at constant currency) to $38.7m (YTD 2012: $36.4m)
- Supermarket Retail revenue up 11.8% to $19.8m (YTD 2012: $17.7m)
- Endoscopy revenue down 2.8% (0.8% at constant currency) to $16.9m (YTD 2012: $17.3m)
- Wound Care and Dermatology revenue up 58.6% to $2.1m (YTD 2012: $1.3m)
- Nine-month gross profit margin improved by 1.3 percentage points compared with the same period in 2012
- EBITDA* profitable for the nine months
- Cash and cash equivalents were $5.8m as at 30 September 2013
- Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation.
Business and Operational Highlights
Food & Agriculture
- Initiated shipment of new ProduceFresh™ bottled concentrate to a top-three US supermarket retailer under the previously announced $13.5m, four-year agreement
- Continued installations of the previously announced $14.0m Sterilox® Fresh order to a top-five US supermarket retailer
- Completed the roll out of FloraFresh® throughout enterprise of a top-three US supermarket retailer under the previously announced $7.0m, four-year agreement
Health Sciences
- Entered the Animal Health market with the launch of NovaZo™ Animal Health Wound Irrigation Solution; seeking US and international partners
- Transitioned marketing rights to SteadMed Medical for Vashe® Wound Therapy for ultrasonic application following termination of distribution agreement with Misonix
Michael Ashton, Executive Chairman, said:
“We exceeded prior-year revenue for the comparable nine-month period and achieved particularly strong revenue growth during the third quarter, as expected, resulting primarily from our major supermarket orders in the US. We continue to advance our growth strategy by focusing on opportunities that increase recurring revenue, including promising new marketing partnerships, the launch of ProduceFresh, and our expansion into the Animal Health market. With these growth opportunities combined with a strong US order book, the Directors remain confident in the future prospects for the Company.”
Business Report
For the nine months, revenue increased 6.5% (7.5% at constant currency) to $38.7 million (YTD 2012: $36.4 million). During this period, both the Supermarket Retail and the Wound Care and Dermatology businesses achieved higher revenue than the comparative period in 2012, whilst the timing of capital installations to the UK National Health Service (NHS) resulted in slightly reduced revenue for the Endoscopy business. Notably, PuriCore increased Group Q3 revenue by 32.8% (33.7% at constant currency) to $14.6 million (Q3 2012: $11.0 million) with a near doubling of revenue in the Supermarket Retail business primarily due to the large capital orders.
Gross profit margin for the Company for the nine months improved by 1.3 percentage points primarily due to higher margin recurring revenue in Endoscopy. As planned, in support of the Company’s growth strategy, PuriCore made additional investments in building and securing an expanded intellectual property portfolio, R&D for development of new products, the development of delivery systems for the Supermarket Retail concentrate products, and increased marketing and sales to support these new opportunities.
PuriCore continued to be EBITDA profitable for the first three quarters of 2013.
Cash and cash equivalents were $5.8 million as at 30 September 2013.
Food & Agriculture
Revenue for the nine months ended 30 September 2013 in the Supermarket Retail business increased 11.8% to $19.8 million (YTD 2012: $17.7 million). The significant increase resulted from the installations of Sterilox Fresh Systems under the $14.0-million agreement with a top-five US supermarket retailer and the enterprise-wide roll out of FloraFresh as part of the $7.0-million, four-year agreement with a top-three retailer. During the period, the Company progressed product development, supply chain, and marketing activities for the launch of the ProduceFresh bottled concentrate product, which commenced shipping under the $13.5-million, four-year agreement with a top-three US retailer during the period.
Health Sciences
In the Endoscopy business (including Surgical and Scientific), PuriCore continued to focus on capitalising on its strong presence in UK NHS hospitals. For the nine months ended 30 September 2013, revenue decreased 2.8% (0.8% at constant currency) to $16.9 million (YTD 2012: $17.3 million) due to the timing of capital installations to the NHS. Recurring revenue, including leases, services, and consumables, represented 80.6% of revenue (YTD 2012: 77.2%). The Company continues to leverage its growing footprint in the UK NHS system, offering surgical consumable products, as well to develop and launch best-in-class products, including new Endoscope Storage and Drying Cabinets and a state-of-the-art RapidAER.
The Wound Care and Dermatology business increased revenue for the first three quarters of 2013 by 58.6% to $2.1 million (YTD 2012: $1.3 million) through marketing partnership successes including milestone payments. The marketing partnerships with SteadMed Medical for Vashe Wound Therapy in North America and with Onset Dermatologics for private-labeled Dermatology products in the US continue to drive revenue for the business. In October, PuriCore terminated its distribution agreement for a private-label version of PuriCore’s Wound Care solution for use principally in conjunction with the Misonix line of ultrasonic systems. SteadMed Medical now serves as the marketing partner for this application. Also in October, PuriCore entered the Animal Health market with the launch of a new product, NovaZo Animal Health Wound Irrigation Solution, in the US. The Company will seek US and international partners to drive sales for this new market.
Enquiries:
UK
FTI Consulting
Simon Conway/Mo Noonan
Victoria Foster Mitchell
+44 (0) 20 7831 3113
US
Sage Strategic Marketing
Jennifer Guinan
+1 610.410.8111
jennifer@sagestrat.com
PuriCore plc (LSE: PURI) is a global company focused on safe and effective protection against the spread of infectious pathogens without causing harm to human or animal health or to the environment. PuriCore’s antimicrobial technology and complementary products are used in well-established core businesses and emerging sectors of two broad markets: Health Sciences and Food & Agriculture. In the Health Sciences market, PuriCore is the leading full provider of all products and services required for a safe, efficient, and compliant endoscope decontamination to protect patients and staff in UK hospitals. PuriCore’s breakthrough wound care technology is used to treat chronic and acute wounds including diabetic ulcers and burns in humans, for atopic dermatitis as private-labelled dermatologic treatments for humans, and to manage wounds in all species of companion and large animals in the animal health segment. In the Food & Agriculture market, PuriCore’s portfolio is used by three of the top-five US supermarket retailers to provide savings in labour costs and improvements in inventory loss and to address cross contamination of pathogens on fresh produce and floral products. In addition, the Company is progressing its research and development programmes on the use of its technology as an agricultural fungicide. PuriCore is headquartered in Malvern, Pennsylvania, US, with operations in Stafford and Clevedon, UK. To receive additional information on PuriCore, visit www.puricore.com.
Certain statements made in this announcement are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are not historical facts but rather are based on the Company’s current expectations, estimates, and projections about its industry; its beliefs; and assumptions. Words such as ‘anticipates,’ ‘expects,’ ‘intends,’ ‘plans,’ ‘believes,’ ‘seeks,’ ‘estimates,’ and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, some of which are beyond the Company’s control, are difficult to predict, and could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or forecasted in the forward-looking statements. The Company cautions shareholders and prospective shareholders not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which reflect the view of the Company only as of the date of this announcement. The forward-looking statements made in this announcement relate only to events as of the date on which the statements are made. The Company will not undertake any obligation to release publicly any revisions or updates to these forward-looking statements to reflect events, circumstances, or unanticipated events occurring after the date of this announcement except as required by law or by any appropriate regulatory authority.
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