MALVERN, PENNSYLVANIA, AND STAFFORD, UK, 31 August 2010 — PuriCore (LSE: PURI), the life sciences company focused on developing and commercialising proprietary, green solutions that safely, effectively, and naturally kill infectious pathogens, today announces its interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2010.
Financial Highlights (unaudited)
- Q2 sales of $9.2 million, an increase of 9.5% (8.0% at constant currency) (Q2 2009: $8.6 million)
- Food Safety sales of $3.5 million, a decrease of 33.8% (Q2 2009: $5.4 million)
- Endoscopy sales of $5.6 million, an increase of 87.1% (82.8% at constant currency) (Q2 2009: $3.0 million)
- H1 sales of $19.1 million, level with prior year (1.3% decrease at constant currency) (H1 2009: $19.1 million)
- Food Safety sales of $7.2 million, a decrease of 43.2% (H1 2009: $12.6 million)
- Endoscopy sales of $11.7 million, an increase of 88.6% (84.6% at constant currency) (H1 2009: $6.2 million)
- Recurring revenues, including leases, service contracts, and consumables, of $12.4 million or 65% of revenues (H1 2009: $8.2 million or 43%)
- Food Safety recurring revenues of $5.8 million or 81% of revenues (H1 2009: $4.4 million or 34%)
- Endoscopy recurring revenues of $6.5 million or 55% of revenues (H1 2009: $3.6 million or 58%)
- Gross profit margin of 32.3% for H1 2010 (FY 2009: 25.2%; H1 2009: 25.3%)
- Endoscopy core business profitable for second quarter in a row (excluding amortisation of capitalised development costs)
- Operating expenses increased 9.9% to $11.0 million due to the acquisition of Labcaire
- $12.2 million in cash as at 30 June 2010 (30 June 2009: $15.8 million)
Operational Highlights
- Initiated Sterilox Food Safety installations in the second largest US supermarket retailer as well as in another top-10 US supermarket
- Launched the next-generation Sterilox Food Safety System Model 2300, providing significant improvements in service reliability and margin improvement
- Received approximately 47% of all H1 2010 NHS Supply Chain orders for endoscopy
- Secured $1.8 million in Endoscopy on Demand managed service contracts
- Received new US FDA 510(k) clearances for over-the-counter (OTC) marketing and antimicrobial preservative claims for Vashe Wound Therapy
- Successfully opposed Oculus European wound care patent; no appeal was filed
- Issued £8.0 million in convertible loan notes
- Secured a $1.8 million debt facility with Republic First Bank to finance Food Safety System lease installations
Chris Wightman, Executive Chairman of PuriCore, said:
“The first half of 2010 was notable for a number of achievements. Firstly, the significant increase in revenues from our Endoscopy division has driven that business to sustained and increasing profitability. Our market share was just below half of all NHS supply chain endoscopy orders, which enabled us to deliver substantial economies of scale and therefore improved gross margins and greater operational leverage. We expect these trends to continue in the second half. Secondly, the success of our Endoscopy on Demand product offering is delivering considerable financial flexibility to our customers at a time of tightening credit availability. Thirdly, the significant improvement in gross margins of 7% across the two main operating divisions now proves the financial viability of our model to build recurring revenues. This marked improvement reflects enhanced product quality, service, and cost. Finally, recurring revenues continue to comprise a growing percentage of total sales, representing 65% of total revenues in the period and reflecting the Company’s long-range strategy for recurring revenues to represent the majority of its income.
“On a less positive note, our Food Safety business declined notably in terms of top line growth, equally caused by both a delay in the rollout of certain supermarket contracts due to economic pressures on the food retail industry and the mix between lease sales and capital sales. Despite these challenges, we have won two additional major accounts in the North American market, with a customer base representing more than 3,600 stores. These additional customers bring our current unexploited store base to more than 4,400. With customers currently installed, installing, or at pilot stage, our market share by customer in the whole of North America is now more than 40%, and with the rapid and significant improvement in gross margins, we are poised to take advantage of any improvement in the economic climate amongst our customer base.
“In our Wound Care business, we believe that our development of a bottled Vashe Wound Therapy product will accelerate adoption and increase the market opportunities for our technology. We are on track to launch our first bottled Vashe product offering by the end of the year. Our ultimate objective is to achieve at least a 12-month shelf life of the Vashe product, and we are progressing well towards this goal.”
Enquiries: Financial Dynamics PuriCore Susan Quigley Chris Wightman Ben Brewerton Executive Chairman +44 (0) 20 7831 3113 +44 (0) 20 7290 3440
About PuriCore
PuriCore plc (LSE: PURI) is a water-based clean technology company focused on developing and commercialising proprietary green solutions that safely, effectively, and naturally kill infectious pathogens without causing harm to human health or the environment. PuriCore’s patented, proprietary technology mimics the human body’s production of the natural antimicrobial hypochlorous acid, offering a safe and non-hazardous approach to disinfection and sanitisation. The Company’s products are used in a broad range of markets that depend upon controlling contamination, including food retail and foodservice, medical device disinfection, and wound care. Hypochlorous acid is proven to be safe, environmentally friendly, and fast acting against a broad range of infectious pathogens, including major public health threats of C.difficile, E.coli, HIV, Human and Animal Influenza (including H1N1 and H5N1), Legionella, MRSA, M.tuberculosis, Norovirus, and Salmonella. PuriCore is headquartered in Malvern, Pennsylvania, with operations in Stafford and Clevedon, UK.
To receive additional information on PuriCore, please visit our website at www.puricore.com, which does not form part of this press release.
Juliet Edwards Assistant Financial Communications
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