Michael Laurier, CEO of Symphony Environmental Technologies Plc, speaks to Stockopedia, 13.09.2010
See the video of Michael Laurier's presentation at the Cleantech Investor Seminar on 15th September 2010.
Dear Shareholder,
As Chief Executive Officer, and one of the largest shareholders myself, I welcome you to Symphony. We value our shareholders, and your opinions and support will always be welcome.
During 2009 the Company continued to concentrate its resources on the d2w products with further launches in South America and new launches in North Africa, the Middle East and parts of Eastern Europe.
The Group has continued to invest in research and development for new products together with improvements to existing products as well as testing and compliance protocols.
Costs have been carefully monitored with increases to support the growth in revenues. The Group has reduced its interest bearing debt by £0.34 million leading to a reduction in finance costs. This reduction in debt was limited due to a substantial increase in trade toward the end of the last quarter resulting in higher working capital balances reported at the end of the year, including amounts payable on invoice discounting.
Working with our distributors, we continue to monitor and have an influence on législation in certain parts of the world and we are making considerable efforts to maximise awareness of d2w products.
We now have 1,417 registered shareholders and growing, and some of you are also actively engaged in helping the Company move forward.
Our shares are traded on the AIM Market of the London Stock Exchange and also on the Plus Market. For our US readers, shares can be purchased through the Bank of New York ADR programme.
Your help in communicating with others and telling them what we do, is very important, as we need people to realise the importance of d2w and d2p for most types of plastic products, whether they shop, travel, teach or are in business.
Please write, phone or visit your local MP or government representative. Plastic bags should not be banned but should be converted to d2w for many health and Environmental reasons. d2w converts ordinary plastic at the end of its useful life into a material with a completely different molecular structure. At that stage it is no longer a plastic but has become a material which can be bio-assimilated in the environment in the same way as a leaf. More information can be found on the Oxo-biodegradable Plastics Association website.
We are always ready to prove what we say, and I am delighted that a challenge to our technology has recently been dismissed by the Advertising Normes Authority of South Africa - http://www.asasa.org.za/ResultDetail.aspx?Ruling=5108
Until now the main focus of our business has been degradable plastic, but I hope that we will have some exciting news for you about our waste-to-value division within the next six months and also to be able to report further on the progress of our new anti-microbial d2p technology.
The interim results for 2010 were announced on 6th September 2010.
The following figures reflect the impact of the considerable work and investment being made as well as the achievements to date in expanding sales and markets for d2w Controlled-life Plastic Technology and products.
H1 2010 Highlights:
Revenues increased by 6% to £3.90 million (2009 H1: £3.69 million)
The year 2010 has started well and in line with management's expectations. The Board is confident that further expansion will be achieved during this year and that long-term debt will continue to reduce.
Thank you for being part of Symphony and for being involved with our success.
Michael
Laurier
Chief Executive
Officer
I am delighted to present these interim results, which show excellent growth of 33% in the Group's underlying profitability. This is underpinned by our increasing distributor network, strong margins and operationally geared costs.
We incurred £115,000 of non-recurring costs during the period relating to the reorganisation of the Group and following completion of this, we now have the ability to, if desired and determined by the Board, pay dividends and/or acquire treasury shares.
The d2w brand continues to strengthen and the market opportunities for our products continue to grow. This is assisted by the hard work of the Board, staff and distributors around the world, together with growing sentiment and legislative changes.
We look forward to the second half of the year with confidence.