TIDMEDEN
RNS Number : 2897D
Eden Research plc
02 March 2022
2(nd) March 2022
Eden Research
("Eden" or "the Company")
Trading Update
Eden Research plc (AIM: EDEN), the AIM-quoted company focused on
sustainable biopesticides and plastic-free formulation technology
for use in global crop protection, animal health and consumer
products industries, provides the following unaudited trading
update for the year ended 31 December 2021.
Highlights
-- Sales of Cedroz and Mevalone are expected to have increased
overall by approximately 4% in volume and by 6% in value to EUR1.3m
(2020: EUR1.2m)
-- Product sales are expected to have remained flat in GBP terms
at approximately GBP1.1m (2020: GBP1.1m), due to adverse foreign
currency exchange rates
-- Revenue for the year is expected to be approximately GBP1.4m
(2020: GBP1.4m) with a loss before tax and statutory operating loss
of approximately GBP3.4m (2020: GBP2.2m)
-- Adjusted EBITDA (excluding Share Based Payments) is expected
to be approximately GBP1.9m (loss) (2020: GBP1.5m loss)
-- Cash position at the year-end was GBP3.9m, in-line with
management expectations (2020: GBP7.3m)
-- Development of Eden's seed treatment and insecticide products
continues on track with good progress made in 2021 and the Corteva
partnership has moved into the next stage of development triggering
a milestone payment to Eden
-- Significant expansion of the Company's addressable market was
achieved as the labels for both Mevalone and Cedroz were expanded
with the addition of new countries, disease and crop targets
Corteva
In May 2021, Eden signed an exclusive Commercialisation, Supply
and Distribution Agreement with Corteva Agriscience ("Corteva"),
the fourth largest agriculture input company in the world. The
agreement covers Eden's first seed treatment product which uses
Eden's proprietary, plastic-free Sustaine Ò encapsulation
technology.
During the last year, the two companies have worked closely
together to undertake field trials and other development work and
have recently agreed to move into the next phase of the agreement.
The decision by Corteva to move into the next phase of development
under the Agreement is clearly positive and has resulted in a
milestone payment being due to Eden. Further development work,
including regulatory field trials, is now underway.
It is still currently expected that launch of the product in the
European Union will occur in time for the 2024 growing season,
although both companies acknowledge that this is an estimate and is
open to revision, dependent on development and product
registration.
The seed treatment market is globally worth approximately US$6.5
billion annually with an estimated annual growth rate of between 10
and 12 percent. Eden estimates product sales arising from the
successful development and registration of this seed treatment
product may reach EUR20m per year in the short term following
launch with significant opportunities for growth in excess of this
figure.
Product sales and development
Product sales in 2021 continued to be affected by the global
pandemic and its impact on the travel and leisure industries and
adverse weather conditions which resulted in wine grape production
and, therefore, the use of associated crop protection products,
being significantly reduced.
In addition, regulatory processes around the world continued to
be impacted with regulatory agencies adjusting to new work
practices and still catching up with workload which had increased
during 2020. As a result, a number of product authorisations which
had been expected, and which should have resulted in product sales
in 2021, were delayed.
However, during the year, authorisation was received for the
sale of Eden's bio-fungicide in Spain for use on a range of new
crops including strawberry, cucumber, tomato, lettuce, herbs, and a
range of berries. Additionally, the approval in Spain expanded to
include important disease targets such as Sclerotinia, Monilinia,
Alternaria, and Phytophthora. Eden and its partners are working to
expand the label for Mevalone(R) in a number of additional
countries.
In addition, Eden's commercial collaborator, Eastman Chemical
Company, received authorisation for the sale of Cedroz(TM) in
Italy.
Finally, at the end of the year, French regulatory authority
ANSES granted full authorisation of Eden's bio-fungicide for use on
pome fruits (such as apples and pears) to prevent post-harvest
storage diseases.
The positive impact of these authorisations on product sales is
expected to be realised from 2022.
Development work continued apace in 2021, including on Eden's
insecticide and seed treatment products, as well as third party
active ingredients which use Eden's proprietary Sustaine(R)
technology.
U.S.
Eden currently still awaits approval of its active ingredients,
as well as Cedroz and Mevalone, in the U.S. by the Environmental
Protection Agency. The Company has a good understanding of the
process that remains and expects to update shareholders with
further news on this in the coming months. The approvals are
expected to significantly increase the addressable markets for
Eden's products.
In October 2021, Eden announced that its shares will be traded
on the U.S. OTC market which provides U.S. investors with the
ability to trade in the Company's ordinary shares in U.S. dollars
and during U.S. market hours.
In the first half of 2022, Eden expects to focus some of its
efforts on increasing visibility to these US investors, tied in
with the anticipated U.S. EPA approvals.
The U.S. has one of the largest food markets in the world, and
its ongoing growth presents a significant opportunity for
biopesticide market participants. As the only AIM-quoted company
focused on biopesticides, we believe that Eden offers a unique
proposition for U.S.-based investors seeking to participate in the
rapid growth and promising future of sustainable agriculture.
Sean Smith, Chief Executive Officer of Eden Research plc,
commented:
"Given the particularly difficult backdrop created by the global
pandemic and adverse growing conditions in many of our operating
territories, I am pleased to report good commercial, regulatory and
development progress. Product sales volumes have increased and this
trend is set to accelerate in 2022, based upon our expanded list of
authorisations, anticipated authorisations and a return to market
conditions that are more in-line with the pre-pandemic environment.
We continue to carefully manage our costs and cash position, with
sufficient funding in place for the foreseeable future.
Good progress is being made with Corteva and with every few
months that pass, we become increasingly confident in that project,
the outcome of which could be meaningful sales initially in the EU
alone. EPA approval in the U.S. should also provide further,
significant product sales opportunities which we are well prepared
to fulfil.
We look forward to an exciting year ahead and would like to
thank shareholders for their continued support."
For further information contact:
Eden Research plc www.edenresearch.com
Sean Smith
Alex Abrey 01285 359 555
Cenkos Securities plc (Nominated advisor
and broker)
Giles Balleny / Max Gould (corporate
finance)
Michael Johnson (sales) 020 7397 8900
Hawthorn Advisors (Financial PR)
Victoria Ainsworth eden@hawthornadvisors.com
Stephen Atkinson
Notes to Editors:
Eden Research is the only UK-listed company focused on
biopesticides for sustainable agriculture. It develops and supplies
innovative biopesticide products and natural microencapsulation
technologies to the global crop protection, animal health and
consumer products industries.
Eden's products are formulated with terpene active ingredients,
based on natural plant defence metabolites. To date, they have been
primarily used on high-value fruits and vegetables, improving crop
yields and marketability, with equal or better performance when
compared with conventional pesticides. Eden has two products
currently on the market:
Mevalone (R) is a foliar biofungicide which initially targets a
key disease affecting grapes and other high-value fruit and
vegetable crops. It is approved for sale in a number of key
countries whilst Eden and its partners pursue regulatory clearance
in new territories thereby growing Eden's addressable market
globally.
Cedroz (TM) is a bionematicide that targets free living
nematodes which are parasitic worms that affect a wide range of
high-value fruit and vegetable crops globally. Cedroz is registered
for sale on two continents and Eden's commercial collaborator,
Eastman Chemical, is pursuing registration and commercialisation of
this important new product in numerous countries globally.
Eden's Sustaine(R) encapsulation technology is used to harness
the biocidal efficacy of naturally occurring chemicals produced by
plants (terpenes) and can also be used with both natural and
synthetic compounds to enhance their performance and ease-of-use.
Sustaine microcapsules are naturally-derived, plastic-free,
biodegradable micro-spheres derived from yeast. It is one of the
only viable, proven and immediately registerable solutions to the
microplastics problem in formulations requiring encapsulation.
Eden was admitted to trading on AIM on 11 May 2012 and trades
under the symbol EDEN. It was awarded the London Stock Exchange
Green Economy Mark in January 2021, which recognises London-listed
companies that derive over 50% of their total annual revenue from
products and services that contribute to the global green economy.
Eden derives 100% of its total annual revenues from sustainable
products and services.
For more information about Eden, please visit: www.edenresearch.com .
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