DGAP-News

Plant Health Care, plc - Seite 2

Post year end, we have seen continued growth into 2022 as we continue to progress to achieve scale by building key distributor relationships on a global basis.

Saori is expected to be a significant driver of growth. It has the potential to deliver disease control and yield increase worth approximately US$75 per hectare for Brazilian soybean growers, giving them an ROI of 6x or more, while reducing the use of potentially less safe agrochemicals. Brazilian soybean farmers spent US $2.85bn on disease control in the 2020/21 season.

The Board remains confident that the Company is on track to deliver cash breakeven within existing financial resources.

Chris Richards, CEO of Plant Health Care, said:

'The Commercial business is now profitable and cash generative and set to deliver profitable growth over the coming years. Strong Harpin αβ revenue growth, combined with the first of many product launches from the PREtec platform, mark a very strong year for Plant Health Care. The Company is now well positioned to become a leader in Sustainable Agriculture, as recognised by the award of the LSE's Green Economy Mark.

'Plant Health Care has established core relationships with four of the largest global agricultural distributors, giving us scale in key markets. Harpin αβ sales growth of 55% was driven by substantial increases in all Regions. In Mexico, sales of Harpin αβ increased by 15% but third-party product sales were held back due to low crop production in H1 2021.

'The launch of Saori into Brazil the world's largest soybean market has been well received. Sales volumes in 2021 were limited by the availability of product; however, the recently announced toll manufacturing agreement secures ample capacity to supply long-term growth in PHC279 (the active ingredient in Saori) at attractive cost for all global sales. Nutrien, our partner in Brazil, is excited about the potential for ramping up sales of Saori in 2022 and beyond.

'We plan multiple launches of PREtec products into other large markets over the coming years, following an investment of more than $25m over the last eight years. The next launch will be PHC279 for the specialty crop market in the USA, in partnership with Wilbur Ellis, in the second half of this year. The submission of the regulatory filing for PHC949 to the EPA in the USA sets the way for the first launch of that exciting product in 2023. Plans are in place for further major product launches in following years, as we build a large business from the PREtec platform.