Symphony Environment Q1 sales up as board takes pay cut

Bio-degradable plastics manufacturer Symphony Environmental said full-year pre-tax losses widened to £2.31m from £0.39m, although there were signs of improvement with first quarter revenues up 8%.

It added that 2016 operating costs were expected to fall by approximately £0.75m after a strategic review which saw the board take an unspecified pay cut.

“The results for 2015 reflect the continued investment phases for both our d2w and d2p technologies, and we have now set a much lower operating cost basis for the business going forward,” Nirj Deva.

“The business is transitioning away from product development activities that required capital for long-term returns and is now moving towards a stronger focus on shorter-term commercialisation and sales opportunities.”

The company, which makes environmentally-friendly plastics for items like bio-degradable shopping bags, said 2015 revenues remained “disappointingly static” at £6.37m.

Symphony said it had carried out a review of its operations and had decided to “substantially reduce, but not eliminate, its investment into product development and marketing” of its d2w oxo-biodegradable plastic masterbatch range as it was “unlikely to have a short to medium term impact on the group's revenue generation”.

“The board believes that the opportunities for d2w oxo-biodegradable plastic will remain at the same high levels, despite a reduced level of investment,” Symphony said.

“Symphony has, and continues to achieve, positive political momentum in several overseas markets where governments aim to resolve the plastic litter crisis without damaging the plastic industry.”