LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Advanced materials group Haydale Graphene updated the market on its trading ahead of its financial year-end on Tuesday, saying it anticipated announcing revenue ahead of market expectations.
The AIM-traded firm said revenues for the 12 months ending 30 June had been supported by the "strong launch" of 'Hi-Therm', with sales of functionalised boron nitride conductive fluids expected to be "markedly ahead" of contractual volumes, and the positive settlement reached over a previously-announced contractual dispute with a United States group selling silicon carbide cutting tooling and wear-resistant solutions.

Counteracting that were the slower-than-expected sales of silicon carbide to east Asian customers, which had been adversely impacted by lockdowns in China.

During the year, Haydale said it continued to strengthen its teams across all group sites, adding that the investment in sales, marketing, quality and production resources would "partly offset" the uplift in revenue at the EBITDA level.

Haydale said its 'HDPlas' functionalisation process was the cornerstone of its graphene and other nanoparticle offerings.

The group successfully commissioned its new 'HT1400' plasma reactor in April, which increased its functionalisation capacity eightfold, with the board reporting that it could now functionalise up to eight tonnes of graphene or other nanoparticles each month.

In the final quarter, the directors accelerated the capital expenditure programme at the Ammanford facility to expand its capacity to process Hi-Therm, to increase production and dispersion capacity for the proprietary biomedical sensor inks, and to enhance the quality control systems at the site.

The increased capital investment and working capital demand had impacted cash, which stood at £1.62m at the end of May.

Haydale's directors said they expected the commercial momentum from the year to continue into the 2023 financial period, reinforcing their confidence in the medium- and long-term prospects and the overall significant potential for the group.

"Our transition from a research and development focussed organisation to a commercial operation has accelerated during the second half of the year, and we look forward to driving our business forward in the coming year and thereafter," said chief executive officer Keith Broadbent.

At 1331 BST, shares in Haydale Graphene Industries were down 0.76% at 6.5p.

Reporting by Josh White at Sharecast.com.

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