Plant Health Care lowers revenue forecasts amid deteriorating market

Plant Health Care said in a trading update on Wednesday that market conditions in the broader agriculture sector had deteriorated over the year, particularly in recent months, leading to a downgrade in its expectations.

The AIM-traded firm said the challenging conditions had notably impacted its key US end market, and as a result, it now expected its revenue for 2023 to either remain flat or exhibit modest growth compared to 2022.

Despite the adverse market conditions, Plant Health Care said it had made significant strides in securing new product registrations and expanding its geographic distribution.

That, the board said, positioned it favourably for growth in 2024 and beyond.

Trading in regions including Brazil, Mexico, and Europe had remained broadly in line with market expectations.

“Sales of Plant Health Care products experienced significant growth in all regions with the exception of the US market,” said chief executive officer Jeff Tweedy.

“Deteriorating market conditions driven by distributor destocking of channel inventories impacted PHC sales in the US.

“Registration delays have impacted our 2024 outlook; however, we remain positive on the revenue growth opportunities for our technology.”

Tweedy noted that the company now marketed PREtec on three continents and anticipated the launch of Teikko in Brazil during the 2024-2025 growing season.

At 1445 GMT, shares in Plant Health Care were down 32.77% at 3.8992p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.