Symphony Environmental reports big revenue jump

The company has two business units, the plastics division (Symphony Environmental Limited or SEL), and the recycling technologies division (Symphony Recycling Technologies Limited or SRT). SEL focuses on ‘making plastics smarter’ and has continued to advance sales revenue solely through the d2w brand so far.

SRT is, and has always been, a research and development division for tire recycling technologies and systems, and has not yet reached the stage of generating revenue. It will now be established as a separately-funded autonomous entity with dedicated resources to commercialise the results of its research and development.

SEL EBITDA was up from a loss of 1.75 million GBP (2.94 million USD) in 2012 to 220,000 GBP (369,000 USD), with the group as a whole recording EBITDA in 2013 as a loss of 100,000 GBP (168,000 USD) down from a positive result in 2012 of just over two million GBP (3.4 million USD).

The operating loss was reduced to 160,000 GBP (268,000 USD) after a loss of 2.18 million GBP (3.66 million USD) in 2012.

After non-recurring costs, group revenue increased 46 percent to 7.19 million GBP (12 million USD), gross profit increased 65 percent to 3.55 million GBP (5.95 million USD) and operating loss reduced by 67 percent to 730,000 (1.2 million USD).

Nirj Deva, Symphony Environmental Technologies chairman, said: ‘The plastics division performed well with an EBITDA profit of 220,000 GBP compared to a loss of 1.75 million GBP in 2012. All major markets performed well compared to 2012, and more importantly, a number of very significant prospects continued to develop during the year.

‘In 2013 sales of d2w controlled-life plastic technology grew by 54 percent from 2012. The main growth-drivers include legislation and CSR. As announced during the year, the Federal Government of Pakistan had followed the example of the UAE by mandating the use of oxo-biodegradable technology for disposable plastic products.

‘Sales of d2w were made to distributors in 51 territories during the year and many of these sell through to other territories included in their distribution agreements. The number of signed agreements with distributors increased from 72 to 76 during the year.

‘For the d2p anti-microbial product range, an exciting development during the year was the completion of a two year collaboration with Janssen Pharmaceutica, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, and the signature of an agreement with them to bring an entirely new product to the market. d2p is included in plastic at the manufacturing stage to give it anti-microbial and anti-fungal properties. This development is significant for Symphony as it opens up major revenue possibilities where protection from bacteria and fungi is required.'

The company's chief executive Michael Laurier added that 2014 has started well with several important product trials progressing and a number of high level negotiations for sales of all of our three main technologies – d2w, d2p and d2t – with several other trials for d2w in their final phase.

Laurier said: ‘Positive changes in legislation are driving momentum for d2w in several markets, albeit timing and volumes are still unknown, but what is known is that our sales outlets continue to expand in number and volume.

‘Trials and negotiations for d2p and d2t are showing favourable results on several fronts and we have high expectations of seeing initial revenues commence over the next year. d2t is a suite of tagging and tracing technologies which will assist brand-owners and governments to reduce counterfeiting of products.’

Deva continued: ‘The board’s strategy is to commercialize SRT, which has a novel process for efficiently recycling scrap tires, and a patent has been applied for. The main driver for this technology is legislation that requires more recycling, and prevents disposal of tyres in landfill or by burning in the open environment. The SRT process not only disposes of the scrap tyres, but also delivers high-value recycled raw materials which can be used again in quality manufacturing processes. 

‘Our business strategy has been consistently in line with the UK government’s policy of creating foreign exchange earnings through an export-driven economy. The group has developed a growing number of licensed and independent distributors to market and sell its products.

‘The business invests in scientific and technical excellence, and Symphony is now not only the market leader but also the technical leader of the industry. The business is not reliant on any one market or event, and the downside risk is therefore limited, but the upside is unlimited. Over the years the management has successfully expanded Symphony’s network, markets and products, and having laid these firm foundations we expect exceptional growth going forward.’

Laurier concluded: '‘We believe that 2014 will show a further strengthening of our operating performance, and we look forward to the year ahead with confidence.’