TIDMDCTA
RNS Number : 6700R
Directa Plus PLC
18 June 2018
18 June 2018
Directa Plus plc
("Directa Plus" or the "Company")
AGM Statement
Directa Plus (AIM: DCTA), a producer and supplier of
graphene-based products for use in consumer and industrial markets,
announces that at the Annual General Meeting of the Company, which
is being held today at 3.30pm, Sir Peter Middleton, Chairman of
Directa Plus, will make the following statement.
"During 2017 we made significant commercial progress across our
four key target markets and I am pleased to report that this
momentum has continued into 2018. We have a strong pipeline of
opportunities for near term commercial progress and continue to
broaden our portfolio of patents with two patents granted in 2018
covering our non-toxic flame retardancy composition for the
textiles market and our new graphene-based solution for enhancing
the performance of tyres, which were awarded by the US and Italian
patent offices respectively. Both of these offer significant market
opportunities and have already stimulated substantial interest in
the capabilities of our graphene nanoplatelets (G+ materials).
"It is testament to our position within the industry that the
National Graphene Association, the main organisation and body in
the US advocating and promoting the commercialisation of graphene
and addressing critical issues such as standards and policy
development, has invited Directa Plus to join as a new Corporate
Partner and for Giulio Cesareo to join the Advisory Board.
"Now turning to the progress in our key target markets.
"In the Environmental sector, Grafysorber(R) is the only
commercially-available graphene-based solution for treating
produced water in the oil & gas industry - making it a
disruptive product with a very substantial market opportunity.
"We achieved a significant milestone in March 2018 with the
signing of a commercial agreement with Sartec Srl (part of Saras
Group, one of the largest refineries in Europe) to jointly develop
and promote a continuous commercial-scale industrial system using
Grafysorber(R) for treating oil-contaminated produced water in the
oil & gas industry. We are making good progress in building
this plant and are in discussions with Sartec on the options for
establishing an operational structure to commercialise the process
going forward.
"Work continues with two leading Romanian integrated oil &
gas companies for field testing Grafysorber(R) for treating
oil-contaminated water. OMV Petrom have completed industrial
testing for continuous treatment at an oil treatment plant and for
oil spill remediation with excellent results. Trials are underway
with GSP SA, with good results to date.
"In the Textiles sector, the benefits of our chemical-free G+
are widely understood and we are increasingly engaging with global
brand owners and textile companies who want to enhance the
performance of their end products through leveraging its
bacteriostatic, thermal management and fire retardant properties.
As a result, we continue to add new customers as well as having
current customers launch larger numbers of graphene-enhanced
products into the market.
"A key development in this market is our recent signing of an
exclusive collaboration agreement with Arvind Limited, a leading
textile-to-retail-and-brands conglomerate in India, to infuse the
high-performance benefits of G+ into their denim fabrics. Each year
Arvind produces over 100 million metres of fabrics and 6 million
pairs of jeans and with a portfolio of brands including Gant,
Levi's, Nautica, Tommy Hilfiger and Wrangler. This represents a
substantial opportunity for Directa Plus. Significant activity is
already underway and we expect that the relationship will be
broadened to include Arvind's other textile segments (workwear) as
well as other business areas within the wider Arvind group.
"We also continue to be very excited about the opportunities
that our relationship with Alfredo Grassi could yield for Directa
Plus. Grassi has a leading market position in the provision of
workwear and customised uniforms across a range of sector
verticals, and we are working closely to seek to expand the
incorporation of G+ into these other markets.
"Finally, in our Elastomers and Composite Materials sectors,
this year we entered into a strategic collaboration with Marangoni,
a global leader in the tyre retreading industry, to develop a
bespoke version of our G+ to improve the performance of Marangoni
compounds in truck and bus tyre retreading. The incorporation of G+
offers both economic and environmental benefits for tyre retreading
- representing a substantial market opportunity. This is an
important milestone as we leverage the know-how and experience
gained in the bike tyre industry to transition into the automotive
markets, which we believe is a key target market for future growth.
Initial testing is already underway, with excellent results, and
road tests are planned for later this year.
"In other Elastomer and Composite activities, we have received a
third order for G+ from a leading manufacturer of brake pads; and
we are actively engaging with a range of automotive customers who
are increasingly recognising the significant performance benefits
offered by G+.
"This substantial activity across our key markets would not be
possible without our proprietary chemical-free production process.
This process enables us to produce consistent G+ materials, to
control material thickness and aspect ratio as well as offering
single layer graphene so as to meet the exact technical
requirements of our existing and potential customers.
"With more and more customers preparing to launch products
incorporating G+, we remain confident of securing future orders and
delivering significant progress in full year 2018 and beyond. The
opportunities for G+ remain substantial and we are focused on
leveraging our strong market position and investing in our sales
efforts to realise these significant commercial opportunities. I
thank you, our shareholders, for your continuing support and I look
forward to reporting on our continued commercial progress."
Enquiries
Directa Plus plc
Giulio Cesareo, CEO
Marco Ferrari, CFO +39 02 36714458
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Cantor Fitzgerald Europe (Nominated Adviser
and Broker)
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Marc Milmo, David Foreman (Corporate Finance)
Alex Pollen, Caspar Shand Kydd (Sales) +44 20 7894 7000
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Luther Pendragon (Financial PR)
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Harry Chathli, Claire Norbury, Alexis Gore +44 20 7618 9100
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About Directa Plus
Directa Plus is one of the largest producers and suppliers of
graphene-based products for use in consumer and industrial markets
worldwide. By incorporating Directa Plus' unique graphene blends,
identified by the G+ brand, its customers can enhance the
performance of their end products without significantly increasing
their cost. Directa Plus graphene-based products are natural,
chemical-free, sustainably produced and tailored to specific
customer requirements for commercial applications such as smart
textiles, tyres, composite materials and environmental
solutions.
Established in 2005, the Company has a patented technology
process and a portfolio of product and application patents. It
produces its graphene-based products at its own factory in Lomazzo,
Italy, with a scalable and exportable manufacturing model enabling
the set-up of additional production at customer locations to reduce
transport costs, waste and time-to-utilisation. Directa Plus
partners with customers to enable them to offer the
high-performance benefits of graphene in their own products.
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END
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