Trading Statement

RNS Number : 8490X

Directa Plus PLC

01 September 2022

 

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of EU Regulation 596/2014 as retained as part of UK law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (as amended). Upon the publication of this announcement, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain

1 September 2022

Directa Plus plc

("Directa Plus" or the "Company")

Trading Update and Notice of Results

Directa Plus (AIM: DCTA), a leading producer and supplier of graphene nanoplatelets based products for use in consumer and industrial markets, is pleased to provide a trading update ahead of the announcement of its half year results for the six months to 30 June 2022 on 29 September 2022.

Trading

Further to the AGM statement announcement on 17 June 2022, Directa Plus continues to perform strongly and has delivered robust H1 2022 results across all verticals. As a result, based on its unaudited management accounts, the Company now expects to report that total revenues for H1 2022 have grown c.39% to €5.5m (H1 2021: €3.95m), driven by strong performance across all verticals.

Despite the uncertainty in the macro-economic climate caused by the Ukraine war, rising inflation driven by energy cost increases, and fears of recession, the Company continues to generate growing interest and awareness from global players across its different verticals.

The Company is responding to the inflation trends, which in H1 2022 led to cost increases and a reduction in margins. The Company has invested in manufacturing equipment which the Board expects to deliver productivity gains and margin efficiencies in H2 that will materially reduce direct production costs.

The Board is confident of the Company's continued growth trend and expects to deliver revenue growth of greater than 40% year-on-year (FY2021: €8.6m).

Environmental Remediation

Directa Plus still awaits the final decision on the award of a significant tender in Romania for its Environmental Remediation services, and the Directors continue to believe that the Company is well positioned to win the tender.

The Commercial Agreement with REDA Energy Ltd to distribute Grafysorber Products continues to progress with a second order received alongside an introduction to a significant potential new customer.  

Further Opportunities

The Company continues to deliver enhancements, based on its patented technology, to products in other areas where Directa Plus has identified significant potential commercial opportunities, including paints, water/air filtration, Lithium-Sulphur batteries and composites.

The Company continues to partner with leading worldwide suppliers to develop outstanding products, as highlighted by the recent patent awards for filtration, the Notice of Allowance received from the United States Patent and Trademark Office for G+® embedded polyurethane membranes, alongside the extension of the partnership with Alfredo Grassi.

Commenting, Giulio Cesareo, Founder and CEO of Directa Plus, said : "We are pleased with the growth and commercial progress we have achieved in the first half of the year. Directa Plus continues to gain momentum in this uncertain and challenging market and continues to make progress to commercialise our highly valuable IP portfolio. The fundraise completed in December 2021 has allowed us to accelerate growth, reduce production costs, and to develop the pipeline where we see many exciting opportunities."

For further information please visit http://www.directa-plus.com/ or contact:

Directa Plus plc	[phone]
Giulio Cesareo, CEO
Giorgio Bonfanti, CFO
Cenkos Securities plc (Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker)	[phone]
Neil McDonald
Adam Rae
Singer Capital Markets Securities Limited (Joint Broker)	[phone]
Rick Thompson
Phil Davies
Tavistock (Financial PR and IR)	[phone]
Simon Hudson
Heather Armstrong

Notes to Editors

Directa Plus (www.directa-plus.com) is one of the largest producers and suppliers of graphene-based products for use in consumer and industrial markets. The Company's graphene manufacturing capability uses proprietary patented technology based on a plasma super expansion process. Starting from natural graphite, each step of Directa Plus' production process - expansion, exfoliation and drying - creates graphene-based materials and hybrid graphene materials ready for a variety of uses and available in various forms such as powder, liquid and paste.

This proprietary production process uses a physical process, rather than a chemical process, to process graphite into pristine graphene nanoplatelets, which enables Directa Plus to offer a sustainable, non-toxic product, without unwanted by-products.

Directa Plus' products are made of hybrid graphene materials and graphene nano-platelets. The products (marketed as G+(R)) have multiple applications due to its properties. These G+(R) products can be categorised into various families, with different products being suitable for specific practical applications.

Directa Plus was established in 2005 and is based in Lomazzo (Como, Italy) and has been listed on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange since May 2016. Directa Plus holds the Green Economy Mark from London Stock Exchange which recognises companies that contribute to the global green economy.

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