AGM Statement
Stanelco PLC
02 May 2006
2nd May 2006
Stanelco plc ('Stanelco' or 'the Group')
AGM Statement
At today's AGM, Philip Lovegrove, Chairman of Stanelco, made the following
comments:
Stanelco's flagship technologies, GREENSEAL and Starpol, are increasingly at the
forefront of areas of major political debate and direction in Europe and the
United States largely as a result of the current upswing in the global price of
oil. There is an increasing focus in the US on sustainability while in Europe
the focus is on broader environmental responsibility.
GREENSEAL permits large scale recyclability of oil based plastics and is energy
efficient, whilst Starpol is the world's leading product in sustainable
packaging materials that gives, in the case of Starpol 3000, a 100% sustainable,
biodegradable, low cost, functional alternative to conventional plastic. These
technologies appear to be without parallel in their respective markets.
Both are on the cusp of full commercialisation and our major task now is the
fulfilment of the commercial potential that these technologies both offer.
Stanelco is in the highest level negotiation with some of the largest companies
in the world. Timescales are inevitably longer than working with smaller
companies, but the desire in these organisations for our products is such that
we are progressing through the red tape as quickly as possible and the rewards
for success at the end will be very much worth the effort.
Over the last year we have continued to develop the business and its
intellectual property portfolio, most notably with the acquisition of the Biotec
Group, which enhances our capability to develop a wide range of environmentally
beneficial products and solutions for the international packaging industry. This
is illustrated by our integral involvement with the Wal Mart Sustainable Value
Network (SVN) in the United States, which provides an excellent platform from
which to explore the future packaging requirements for retailers.
We have continued to develop and pursue the commercialisation of GREENSEAL, our
radio frequency (RF) sealing platform technology. This has taken longer than
initially anticipated due to several complexities that have delayed the
introduction of the technology, including the capacity of the food packaging
industry to allow conversion of machines. However the challenges that have been
met and overcome set us in good stead to roll out this technology both in the UK
and in the US. Over the long run we have the ability to make up any shortfall
within our roll out program. We continue to work with and be supported by ASDA
in establishing this technology. We have amended our strategy to assist the end
user with a combination of temporary machinery and by having dedicated teams
available to fine tune the R&D elements. Importantly the technology is now also
being applied to the area of vertical-form-fill-seal packaging, for example with
salad bags, which opens up our technology to another food packaging market which
is less complex than tray lidders and thermoformers. We remain confident that
GREENSEAL will emerge as a commercial, revolutionary product within the
packaging industry in the years ahead.
Biodegradable products are currently another significant area of development
within the business. Following the acquisition of Biotec we are able to develop
and offer the Starpol range of environmental, sustainable materials within our
portfolio. We are working with some of the world's leading organisations with a
view to establishing micro manufacturing plants that will share the investment
in plant and facilities while ensuring that we can expand our production
capability to keep pace with customers' increasing supply needs for the Starpol
range of materials. As announced on 14 February 2006, Starpol 2000 now has the
relevant US FDA approval, along with its European equivalent. Starpol 3000 is
expected to be confirmed as fully compliant under the same regulation and we
expect approval in turn for this within weeks - as with another of our products
Starpol Wrap which is an ideal product to replace waxed paper for burger wrap
and other deli counter applications.
We continue to develop our relationship with Wal Mart through the SVN and they
have provided us with 23 specific projects on which to work in partnership using
our various technologies. Following a recent participation in the US at an
internal exhibition of Wal Mart suppliers where buyers and their suppliers were
able to view our full product portfolio, yet more interest in our product range,
including Frogpacks and Pulsline, was expressed both amongst the suppliers and
at a senior level in Wal Mart. In addition last week Stanelco had the
opportunity to demonstrate to a senior contingent of the Wal Mart meat team a
commercial installation of GREENSEAL currently being trialled at Grampian Foods
near Manchester. The process demonstrated all of the advantages of GREENSEAL. We
were able to show the latest development of Starpol 3000 along with Starpol 2000
and Starpol Wrap 100.The meat area at Wal Mart has been identified as the first
area to trial Starpol 2000,3000 and Wrap products. Further discussions will take
place during this week to clarify trial details.
On 14 December 2005 we announced our agreement with Perseco, the international
leader in packaging and supply chain services to the food service and beverage
industries. We have a number of meetings in the US next week in order to move
our exciting project in the fast food sector forward, in particular to endeavour
to finalise details with regard to vertical integration into their supply chain
by establishing Micro Manufacturing Facilities.
In other areas we have appointed a number of agents to market other products in
our range such as the FrogPack and Frog Mat, and our security label Pulsline. We
continue to develop the sales infrastructure to penetrate target markets. We
also continue to plan for the increase in facilities to meet the business needs
going forward.
The Board recognises the obstacles it faces in converting opportunities into
commercial contracts but is confident with the strengthened management team in
place it will meet these challenges. We have developed partnerships and key
relationships with world leading organisations, and we continue to believe that
our intellectual property portfolio will revolutionise the packaging industry.
Philip Lovegrove
Chairman
Ends
For further information please contact:
Martin Wagner, Chief Executive Officer
Stanelco PLC
Tel: +44 (0)2380 867 100
Jonathon Brill/Billy Clegg
Financial Dynamics
Tel: +44 (0)20 7831 3113
About Stanelco plc
The Stanelco Group of companies (the Group) has brought together expertise in
radio frequency (RF) technology, RF applications and biodegradable material
sciences to create a revolutionary range of packaging technologies.
Stanelco's philosophy is that new products and processes must offer solutions
and applications which:
- give higher added value,
- are greener, more environmentally sustainable than those they replace and
- have protectable intellectual property rights.
Stanelco will develop the products and processes to a demonstration stage and
then work with partners in order to reach the markets; and under these
circumstances Stanelco will usually seek to license its technology. Stanelco
invests considerable time and resources in ensuring its technologies are
protected via layers of patents wherever possible.
In this way Stanelco believes it can minimise commercial risk and preserve the
highest value for shareholders.
The products offering the prospect of near term revenue generation are being
given priority over the Group's resources.
Stanelco was founded in 1953 and is a world leader in the development of radio
frequency technologies for processing polymers for edible and packaging
applications and the design and manufacture of optical fibre technology,
induction heating and dielectric welding equipment. Stanelco's current
developments include GREENSEAL Food tray lidding technology, STARPOL (starch /
pva blended material), STARPOL 2000 (highly functional, low cost biodegradable
packaging material with food contact approvals) FrogPack high impact low cost
packaging format, CradleWrap range of biodegradable air cushion packaging,
Soluble tape, 100% water-soluble films and adhesives, Biodegradable Airbag (void
fill) packaging, edible hard-shell capsule technology, water-soluble detergent
capsules, edible sachets and waste packing.
GREENSEAL, STARPOL, FrogPack and CradleWrap are all trademarks of the Stanelco
plc group.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange