AGM Statement
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27 June 2024
Eden Research plc
("Eden" or "the Company")
AGM Statement
Eden Research plc (AIM: EDEN), the AIM-quoted company focused on sustainable biopesticides and plastic-free formulation technologies for use in the global crop protection, animal health and consumer products industries, will hold its Annual General Meeting today at 11:00 am BST at 1 Bartholomew Close, London EC1A 7BL.
At the meeting, Eden's Chairman, Lykele van der Broek, will make the following statement:
Since the last AGM, Eden has made tremendous strides in delivering against its strategic growth objectives and value creation model. Much of the groundwork that our team has put in place over the past few years is now bearing fruit as we enter new markets, continue to expand the labels of our existing products, and introduce new products to the market to help diversify our revenue streams.
The 2023 financial results reflect the progress we have made, showing revenue growth of 78% compared to the previous year, our third consecutive year of growth, exceeding market expectations. Much of this growth has been derived from the launch of our innovative bird repellent seed treatment product, Ecovelex™. This received a temporary authorisation in Italy for use on maize triggering a significant order from our commercial partner Corteva. Ecovelex is the result of a four-year intensive development programme by the Eden and Corteva teams - bringing a regulated product such as this to market in a relatively short period of time is quite an achievement for both companies and testament to the levels of cooperation.
There is still much more to be excited about with Ecovelex as we await full regulatory authorisation in the various countries in which we have applied, including the EU and the UK. In addition, we are further developing Ecovelex to pursue new markets and uses in order to grow the overall addressable market for this innovative product.
Our growth strategy for our other two flagship products, Mevalone® and Cedroz™, continues to reap rewards, particularly in the wake of various US state approvals. We were pleased to have received regulatory approval at the start of this year for Mevalone in California - the largest grape-growing, wine-producing state in the US by a considerable margin. Supported by Sipcam Agro USA, our distribution partner for Mevalone in the US, we expect to add meaningful product sales revenue in the coming years.
We are also progressing well with the development of our insecticide product, and are pleased with the encouraging results from field trial results received to date. The size of Eden's addressable insecticide market cannot be understated, particularly considering the increasing scrutiny that conventional products face from regulators for their potential impact on the environment. This morning, we announced detailed information about these developments which will soon be available on our website.
Towards the end of last year, we successfully completed a fundraise at a very challenging time for the capital markets, which has provided us with the financial resources needed to accelerate existing workstreams, increase our development capacity, and, importantly, grow our commercial team. We are grateful to our new investors who participated in this fundraising process, and to our existing shareholders who continued to show unwavering support of the Company through both the institutional and retail offerings.
The business as it stands today is very different from just a few years ago. As we continue to deliver against our strategic objectives, it is important that we have the capacity and resources available to us to help maintain our positive growth trajectory, steer the Company towards profitability, and help realise the Company's full value.
Earlier this month, we welcomed the first new addition to our commercial team in some time, and in the coming months, we will announce a further strengthening of the team. Working together with our executives, these new colleagues will be responsible for leading Eden's commercial expansion efforts and driving revenue growth through both the expansion of our existing business and the pursuit of new opportunities.
I want to take this opportunity to welcome to the Board Derek McAllan who joined as Non-Executive Director last month. Derek brings with him considerable experience in advising growth companies such as Eden in his current capacity as a Partner of the audit firm RSM. Derek will assume the role of Chairman of the Audit Committee following the conclusion of today's meeting, with Robin stepping down from the role. Robin will remain on the Board as a non-executive director and will continue to play a critical role in this capacity providing continuity and historical perspective, as well as transaction support, where appropriate.
To conclude, I'd like to thank all our investors once again for your support over the past year. Finally, I'd also like to extend my personal gratitude to the Eden team who has worked tirelessly to get us to the stage we are at today.
For further information contact:
Eden Research plc | |
Sean Smith
| www.edenresearch.com 01285 359 555 |
Cavendish Capital Markets Limited (Nominated advisor and broker) |
|
Giles Balleny / George Lawson (corporate finance)
| 020 7220 0500 |
Hawthorn Advisors (Financial PR) |
|
Victoria Ainsworth |
|
Notes to Editors:
Eden Research is the only UK-listed company focused on biopesticides for sustainable agriculture. It develops and supplies innovative biopesticide products and natural microencapsulation technologies to the global crop protection, animal health and consumer products industries.
Eden's products are formulated with terpene active ingredients, based on natural plant defence metabolites. To date, they have been primarily used on high-value fruits and vegetables, improving crop yields and marketability, with equal or better performance when compared with conventional pesticides. Eden has three products currently on the market:
Based on plant-derived active ingredients, Mevalone® is a foliar biofungicide which initially targets a key disease affecting grapes and other high-value fruit and vegetable crops. It is a useful tool in crop defence programmes and is aligned with the requirements of integrated pest management programmes. It is approved for sale in a number of key countries whilst Eden and its partners pursue regulatory clearance in new territories thereby growing Eden's addressable market globally.
Cedroz™ is a bionematicide that targets free living nematodes which are parasitic worms that affect a wide range of high-value fruit and vegetable crops globally. Cedroz is registered for sale on two continents and Eden's commercial collaborator, Eastman Chemical, is pursuing registration and commercialisation of this important new product in numerous countries globally.
Eden's seed treatment product, Ecovelex™ was developed to safely tackle crop destruction caused by birds - a major cause of losses in maize and other crops. Ecovelex works by creating an unpleasant taste or odour that repels birds, leaving the seeds safely intact and the birds unaffected and free to find alternative food sources. The product is based on Eden's plant-derived chemistry, registered in the EU, U.S. and elsewhere, and formulated using Eden's Sustaine microencapsulation system.
Eden's Sustaine® encapsulation technology is used to harness the biocidal efficacy of naturally occurring chemicals produced by plants (terpenes) and can also be used with both natural and synthetic compounds to enhance their performance and ease-of-use. Sustaine microcapsules are naturally-derived, plastic-free, biodegradable micro-spheres derived from yeast. It is one of the only viable, proven and immediately registerable solutions to the microplastics problem in formulations requiring encapsulation.
Eden was admitted to trading on AIM on 11 May 2012 and trades under the symbol EDEN. It was awarded the London Stock Exchange Green Economy Mark in January 2021, which recognises London-listed companies that derive over 50% of their total annual revenue from products and services that contribute to the global green economy. Eden derives 100% of its total annual revenues from sustainable products and services.
For more information about Eden, please visit: www.edenresearch.com.
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