Disappointed investors sent shares in Nanoco (NANO) down 5 per cent after the nanomaterials group - which makes cadmium-free quantum dots used in the display, lighting and medical imaging markets - suffered delays in completing its first customer shipments, pushing back royalty payments.
Nanoco's adjusted operating loss widened by 9 per cent to about £9.5m in the year to end-July. That reflected increased costs: it shelled out £0.9m to secure a main market listing, boosted research spending as it experimented with scaling up production, and incurred greater payroll expenses as it awarded bonuses, raised salaries and slightly increased headcount.
The group's progress in the display market was hampered by delays in the launch of partner Dow Chemical's South Korean plant, and customer LG Electronics declining to source dots from Nanoco's Runcorn facility. But management still expects to commence shipments within weeks. Moreover, the company has just renewed a joint development deal with lighting giant Osram, and its cash pile has swelled to £24m following a recent placing.
Broker Canaccord slashed its forecasts and now expects a pre-tax loss of £9m this financial year, giving a loss per share of 3.4p, swinging to earnings of £3m and 1.2p in the year to July 2017 (FY 2015: losses of £10.3m and 3.4p).
| NANOCO (NANO) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 59p | MARKET VALUE: | £140m | |
| TOUCH: | 58.5-59.3p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 149p | LOW: 56p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | NIL | PE RATIO: | NA | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 12p | NET CASH: | £24.3m | |
| Year to 31 Jul | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 2.6 | -3.2 | -1.3 | nil |
| 2012 | 3.0 | -4.4 | -1.8 | nil |
| 2013 | 3.9 | -5.0 | -2.0 | nil |
| 2014 (restated) | 1.4 | -9.1 | -3.7 | nil |
| 2015 | 2.0 | -10.9 | -4.1 | nil |
| % change | +42 | - | - | - |
