Crop enhancement specialist Plant Impact (PIM) turned a corner in the 12 months to the end of July, swinging into profit at the pre-tax level for the first time. This was predominately thanks to the group securing its first full commercial season for its flagship Veritas technology - aimed at improving soy plant yield - with Bayer CropScience in Brazil. In addition, Plant Impact agreed to give rights to the Bayer subsidiary for commercialisation of the group’s pipeline of soybean products throughout the Americas. In March, Plant Impact was paid $3m (£1.95m) of a potential $9m under the deal. As a result, gross profit for the full-year almost doubled to £3.5m.
During the year, the Aim-traded group also launched Banzai - a product aimed at improving cocoa yields under stressful growing conditions - in partnership with Arysta LifeScience in Africa, India and the Middle East. Chief executive John Brubaker says management is working on expanding the business globally. To do this, the group plans to invest £11m over the next three years on developing new technologies to improve the yield and resilience of soy and wheat production. This will be funded by internally generated cash and proceeds from the £6.2m placing completed in March.
Broker Peel Hunt expects adjusted EPS of 0.3p for the July 2016 year-end, up from the 0.2p in these figures.
PLANT IMPACT (PIM) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 61p | MARKET VALUE: | £50m | |
| TOUCH: | 60-61p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 67p | LOW: 30p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | nil | PE RATIO: | 305 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 10p* | NET CASH: | £7.6m | |
| Year to 31 Mar | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 1.6 | -2.1 | -4.0 | nil |
| 2012 | 1.9 | -2.0 | -3.0 | nil |
| Year to 31 July | ||||
| 2013 (16-month period) | 1.6 | -1.9 | -3.1 | nil |
| 2014 | 2.5 | -0.9 | -1.0 | nil |
| 2015 | 4.5 | -0.2 | 0.2 | nil |
| % change | +80 | - | - | - |
*16-month period. *Includes intangible assets of £1.87m, or 2.3p a share | ||||
