Half-year figures from Versarien (VRS) reveal revenue growth and marginal loss-cutting at at time of rapid expansion for the graphene specialist. Its past six months have been characterised by a series of agreements, mostly with Chinese entities, in a bid to develop, produce and sell graphene in the country. Joint ventures are “the way to do business in China”, according to chief executive officer Neil Ricketts, who has signed off nine collaborative deals over the half year. Some deals, such as its agreement with the Qingdao Municipal Bureau of Commerce, include room for investment from their partners into their ventures.
This investment would be welcome, given that to a large extent Versarien is relying on fundraising to generate cash. Its cash position of £6.1m, up from £0.4m this time last year, is largely derived from a £5.2m fundraising round in September 2018. It did the same in November last year, raising around £2.9m then.
The company is forging new ground beyond China, too. In October, it acquired Gnanomat, a Spanish company that specialises in incorporating graphene into supercapacitors, for £2.6m. Mr Ricketts claims that its deal to supply graphene parts to a major airline, announced in November, is a world-first.
| VERSARIEN (VRS) | ||||
| ORD PRICE: | 120p | MARKET VALUE: | £184.8m | |
| TOUCH: | 118-122p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 193p | LOW: 54p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | nil | PE RATIO: | na | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 8p* | NET CASH | £6.1m | |
| Half-year to 30 Sep | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
| 2017 | 4.4 | -0.8 | -0.54 | nil |
| 2018 | 5.2 | -0.8 | -0.44 | nil |
| % change | +18 | - | - | - |
| Ex-div: | nil | |||
| Payment: | nil | |||
| *Includes intangibles of £2.8m, or 1.8p a share | ||||
