When I stumble across a new company, one of the first things I look at is the Board of Directors. Next up is a brief run through the company's prospects, followed by the market capitalisation versus a number of metrics including revenues, cash, net assets. I would say that on average, half the companies I first showed some interest in are, by this stage, completely off the radar for failing to measure up on a few of those key points. What I look for next, which may surprise some, is what price the company has raised money at since it listed. Why? Well it gives me a very quick idea of how well supported the company is, and it can also speak volumes about the progress the company has made, or at least how the market perceives progress has been made!
With Plant Impact, you really are looking at the kind of company that gets slapped with a 'speculative buy' by any broker/analyst (in this case by Hichens, Harrison & Co and Fiske). It has some interesting stuff in the cupboard, and the management team seems pretty well rounded. But beyond that, you struggle to value the business, as intellectual property type operations are very difficult to value, and it is difficult to gauge the odds of some of their technologies eventually bringing home the bacon for stakeholders. That's why I was pleasantly surprised to see that Plant Impact had, in fact, raised money at a higher level than the original IPO ? this tells me the company appears to be moving in the right direction ? up!
Plant Impact arrived on investors' doorsteps back in October 2006. A placing was completed with the IPO, raising £3.85 million gross (£3.3 million net) at 38 pence per share, valuing the company at around £8.8 million. As the name suggests, Plant Impact is involved in developing natural nutrient and pesticide products for the agricultural industry. But don't think about fields of corn or wheat; instead think tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce and grapes?and then think about those expensive bouquets of flowers you buy for your wife ...or husband!
Plant Impact's technical director, David Marks, is your botanical/soil scientist/biology guru who invented the group's technologies. Having spent a fair few years working with large fertilizer manufacturers, and having expertise in pest management sciences, David's technical expertise is complemented by CEO Peter Blezard's sales, marketing and management background with Asia Pulp and Paper, and subsequent experience working in the financial markets arena, having co-founded Plant Impact plc five years ago. Plant Impact announced the addition of a Finance Director this week ? Michael Panteli ? who has considerable experience working with start-up technology companies.
Last month, Plant Impact came back to the market and raised a further £1.5 million at 47 pence per share ? approximately 24% higher than the IPO raising. That may not sound all that exciting, but when you consider the number of stocks on AIM trading below their IPO price - way below in too many instances - Plant Impact has faired rather well!
So what does Plant Impact actually do? Well there are basically five products which fall into two categories: crop nutrients and crop pesticides.
CaT technology (the Ca is for Calcium) ? a calcium absorbent aid for fruits and vegetables. Trials conducted to date have shown positive results in aiding the absorption of calcium in parts of the plants that would not usually do so under normal conditions. Some of the benefits include longer shelf life, less physiological disorders and improved tolerance to extremes of temperature.
PiNT works to maximise the yield by unlocking trace elements in soil and fertilizer so that they are more readily absorbed by the plants' roots. Furthermore, it slows the natural breakdown of amine and ammonium nitrogen, which helps reduce leaching. PiNT, therefore, improves yields, reduces leaching and encourages growth of roots, buds and fruit.
Speedo technology is not designed to ensure plants swim faster in the 100-metre butterfly at the Olympics! Instead, it encourages the acceleration of plant growth, generating earlier yielding crops.
Alethea is further down the development pipeline, but in trial in combination with PiNT products it has shown to improve plant tolerance to climatic stresses and increases resistance to disease.
BugOil is the group's pesticide product. The non-toxic oil has been through a number of trials already and has shown promising results. It has proved to be safe for fish, birds, mammals and "beneficial insects" like bees, worms and ladybirds.
The plan for Plant Impact is to develop its crop nutrients business while the crop pesticides division moves through various cycles of testing. In fact, some revenues are already being generated, with interim results for the six months ended 30 September 2007 showing revenues of £0.1285 million. This is a paltry amount of revenue, but nonetheless the company is building up important sales relationships for its products. Plant Impact further released an update this week on BugOil trials ?and the reading was rather nice!
Peter Blezard, CEO, commented, "It is of no great surprise that BugOil, with its compelling list of pest control abilities and significant environmental and safety benefits, is attracting considerable interest from some of the largest global players in the agrochemical industry."
With Plant Impact, you really are looking at the kind of company that gets slapped with a 'speculative buy' by any broker/analyst (in this case by Hichens, Harrison & Co and Fiske). It has some interesting stuff in the cupboard, and the management team seems pretty well rounded. But beyond that, you struggle to value the business, as intellectual property type operations are very difficult to value, and it is difficult to gauge the odds of some of their technologies eventually bringing home the bacon for stakeholders. That's why I was pleasantly surprised to see that Plant Impact had, in fact, raised money at a higher level than the original IPO ? this tells me the company appears to be moving in the right direction ? up!
Plant Impact arrived on investors' doorsteps back in October 2006. A placing was completed with the IPO, raising £3.85 million gross (£3.3 million net) at 38 pence per share, valuing the company at around £8.8 million. As the name suggests, Plant Impact is involved in developing natural nutrient and pesticide products for the agricultural industry. But don't think about fields of corn or wheat; instead think tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce and grapes?and then think about those expensive bouquets of flowers you buy for your wife ...or husband!
Plant Impact's technical director, David Marks, is your botanical/soil scientist/biology guru who invented the group's technologies. Having spent a fair few years working with large fertilizer manufacturers, and having expertise in pest management sciences, David's technical expertise is complemented by CEO Peter Blezard's sales, marketing and management background with Asia Pulp and Paper, and subsequent experience working in the financial markets arena, having co-founded Plant Impact plc five years ago. Plant Impact announced the addition of a Finance Director this week ? Michael Panteli ? who has considerable experience working with start-up technology companies.
Last month, Plant Impact came back to the market and raised a further £1.5 million at 47 pence per share ? approximately 24% higher than the IPO raising. That may not sound all that exciting, but when you consider the number of stocks on AIM trading below their IPO price - way below in too many instances - Plant Impact has faired rather well!
So what does Plant Impact actually do? Well there are basically five products which fall into two categories: crop nutrients and crop pesticides.
CaT technology (the Ca is for Calcium) ? a calcium absorbent aid for fruits and vegetables. Trials conducted to date have shown positive results in aiding the absorption of calcium in parts of the plants that would not usually do so under normal conditions. Some of the benefits include longer shelf life, less physiological disorders and improved tolerance to extremes of temperature.
PiNT works to maximise the yield by unlocking trace elements in soil and fertilizer so that they are more readily absorbed by the plants' roots. Furthermore, it slows the natural breakdown of amine and ammonium nitrogen, which helps reduce leaching. PiNT, therefore, improves yields, reduces leaching and encourages growth of roots, buds and fruit.
Speedo technology is not designed to ensure plants swim faster in the 100-metre butterfly at the Olympics! Instead, it encourages the acceleration of plant growth, generating earlier yielding crops.
Alethea is further down the development pipeline, but in trial in combination with PiNT products it has shown to improve plant tolerance to climatic stresses and increases resistance to disease.
BugOil is the group's pesticide product. The non-toxic oil has been through a number of trials already and has shown promising results. It has proved to be safe for fish, birds, mammals and "beneficial insects" like bees, worms and ladybirds.
The plan for Plant Impact is to develop its crop nutrients business while the crop pesticides division moves through various cycles of testing. In fact, some revenues are already being generated, with interim results for the six months ended 30 September 2007 showing revenues of £0.1285 million. This is a paltry amount of revenue, but nonetheless the company is building up important sales relationships for its products. Plant Impact further released an update this week on BugOil trials ?and the reading was rather nice!
Peter Blezard, CEO, commented, "It is of no great surprise that BugOil, with its compelling list of pest control abilities and significant environmental and safety benefits, is attracting considerable interest from some of the largest global players in the agrochemical industry."
So with a recent boost to the cash pile, and an interesting mix of products combined with a fairly undemanding valuation, Plant Oil looks in better shape than most companies that have listed in the last few years on AIM. There is undoubtedly a market for a product like BugOil, especially in Europe with its anti-genetically modified crops stance, and huge agricultural base for fruits and vegetables. One to keep an eye on.
Source: by Ian Mclelland
