Directa Plus (AIM: DCTA), a leading producer and supplier of graphene nanoplatelets based products for use in consumer and industrial market is pleased to provide an update on trading in the first quarter of 2020 and for the financial year ended 31 December 2019 (“FY2019”).
Trading in the first quarter has been robust with revenues now expected to be some €1.52m (up from €0.5m in Q1 2019), of which €1m was received in January and February with orders of €0.52m received in March. This significant improvement has been primarily driven by the strengthening performance of Setcar, our Environmental division. The order book to date is in line with management expectations for 2020 with confirmed orders of €5.85m, with on-going negotiations for other significant contracts.
Following on from the positive results from the real-world testing of our graphene enhanced asphalt (Gipave®) in Italy, the Board is also delighted to report that the first order of Directa G+ ITC1 nanoplatelets for asphalts for production of Gipave® has now been received from Iterchimica. Results from the UK trials in November 2019 are expected shortly and we are seeing growing interest from asphalt companies in the UK but also now from the USA.
The Company is continuing to fulfil customer orders and is continuing to work on opportunities in new verticals including in plastics and paints and has received a first small order to test G+ efficacy in enhancing bio plastics.
The Company will be announcing its FY 2019 results in mid-May and expects to report a FY2019 loss before tax not exceeding €3.6m in line with market expectations, from recognised revenue of approximately €3.0m (2018: €2.25m).
Commenting on the trading outlook for Directa Plus, Giulio Cesareo, Founder and CEO, said, “The strategy we are pursuing to gain traction and capture more value in our key vertical markets is succeeding. We hope that this will help insulate us from the worldwide economic uncertainty caused by the coronavirus.”
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