TIDMCRON
RNS Number : 6618A
Cronin Group PLC
28 March 2017
28 March 2017
Cronin Group Plc
("Cronin" or the "Company")
Preliminary announcement of audited results for the year ended
31 December 2016
Cronin Group Plc announces its audited financial results for the
year ended 31 December 2016.
Highlights:
-- The Group has grown to six full time employees and moved into dedicated premises.
-- Steve Coles joined the Company as CTO to lead the hardware
and software development teams which are being significantly
enlarged in 2017.
-- The Company's first DigitalGlassware(R) products are expected to be trialled during 2017.
-- Loss of GBP0.71 million after tax (2015: loss GBP1.16 million
inclusive of discontinued operations).
-- Cash and short term deposits at 31 December 2016 of GBP4.79 million (2015: GBP5.42 million).
-- Net assets at 31 December 2016 of GBP8.92 million (2015: GBP9.63 million).
James Ede-Golightly, Chairman, said:
"During the past twelve months the Group has made significant
progress in following its roadmap to the digitization of chemistry
and the Group's ultimate vision of developing the capability for
autonomous universal digital synthesis.
Testing, collaboration partnerships and further releases of the
DigitalGlassware(R) product platform are expected during 2017 as
the product platform is developed in advance of the first
commercial launch which is anticipated in 2018."
A full copy of the Company's 2016 Annual Report is now available
on the Company's website at www.croningroupplc.com under the
Investor Relations/Annual & Interim Reports section and will
shortly be posted to shareholders. This contains on page 38, a
Notice of the Annual General Meeting, to be held in the Spitfire
room at the offices of Cronin at Merlin House, Mossland Road,
Hillington Park, Glasgow G52 4XZ on 19 May 2017 at 11.00 am.
The Board of Directors approved this preliminary announcement on
27 March 2017. Whilst the financial information included in this
preliminary announcement has been prepared in accordance with
International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS") as endorsed by
the European Union, this announcement does not itself contain
sufficient information to comply with all the disclosure
requirements of IFRS and does not constitute statutory accounts of
the Company for the years ended 31 December 2016 or 31 December
2015.
The financial information has been extracted from the statutory
accounts of the Company for the years ended 31 December 2016 and 31
December 2015. The auditor, Nexia Smith & Williamson, has
reported on the statutory accounts for the years ended 31 December
2016 and 2015; the reports were unqualified and did not contain a
statement under either section 498(2) or 498(3) of the Companies
Act 2006. In their report on the statutory accounts for the year
ended 31 December 2016, the auditor drew attention to the
disclosures concerning the valuation of goodwill and investment in
the subsidiary. In their report on the statutory accounts for the
year ended 31 December 2015 the auditor did not draw attention to
any such matters.
The statutory accounts for the year ended 31 December 2015 have
been delivered to the Registrar of Companies, whereas those for the
year ended 31 December 2016 will be delivered to the Registrar of
Companies following the Company's Annual General Meeting.
Contacts:
Cronin Group Plc www.croningroupplc.com
James Ede-Golightly, Chairman T: 01481 701 564
WH Ireland Limited www.whirelandplc.com
Mike Coe / Ed Allsopp T: 0117 945 3470
CHAIRMAN'S STATEMENT
I am pleased to present the chairman's statement for Cronin
Group Plc ("the Company") and its subsidiaries (the "Group") for
the financial year to 31 December 2016. Following the Group
restructuring which took place in the year to 31 December 2015, the
current financial year has been one of focusing on the continuing
operations of the Group and the implementation of our vision.
Our Vision
During past twelve months the Group has made significant
progress in following its roadmap to the digitization of chemistry
and the Group's ultimate vision of developing the capability for
autonomous universal digital synthesis.
Around 96 per cent of all manufacturers are touched in some way
by chemistry. The task of making molecules is challenging; an
organic molecule containing just a few dozen atoms, (e.g.
Taxol(TM)), can take many man-years of effort to complete. There
are increasing industrial initiatives to drive towards chemical
research and manufacturing processes that are sustainable,
efficient and improve economic viability, for example small batch /
bespoke manufacturing. We see an opportunity to capitalise on the
economic benefit derived from these initiatives by providing a
platform to make chemical synthesis predictable and enabling smart
synthesis by design.
The Group believes the digitization of chemistry will structure
humanity's understanding and experience of chemical space. This
will make chemistry more productive, predictable and enable smart
synthesis by design. The Group will go about sourcing high content
data from chemical reactions from a community of users and
providing it back in a digestible and actionable format. To this
end the Group is developing and will deploy to a community of
users, a unique data platform accessible via the cloud and which is
a key element in our roadmap to the digitization of chemistry.
Growing Capability
I am pleased to report that during the last year the Group's
capability growth has facilitated a quickening in the pace of
progress, which is also a testament to the skill and dedication of
all those involved.
In April 2016, the Company constituted a Scientific Committee
comprising Mark Warne, Laurence Ede and Riccardo Pigliucci to
review, evaluate and advise on the commercial and technical
activities of the Group, with Paul Landau subsequently joining the
committee in January 2017. The committee brings a deep and diverse
expertise spanning chemistry and digital businesses and has been
invaluable in the strategic progress of the Group.
During the past year the Group has grown to six full time
employees, moving into dedicated premises in Glasgow in August
2016. Steve Coles joined the Company from main list Mears Group plc
as Chief Technology Officer to lead the hardware and software
development teams which are being significantly enlarged in
2017.
By virtue of the Company's relationship with the Glasgow
University research team ("The Cronin Research Group" or "CRG") the
Group's direct employees are exclusively focused on the development
of commercial products while Company funded research within the CRG
facilitates testing; scientific proof of concept work and the
development of intellectual property to support the roadmap.
Financial Review
The Group incurred a loss from continuing operations for the
year ended 31 December 2016 of GBP0.71 million (2015: loss from
continuing operations of GBP0.39 million) which resulted in an
overall after tax loss for the year of GBP0.71 million compared to
an overall loss of GBP1.16 million in the previous year (2015:
inclusive of a GBP0.77 million loss from discontinued
operations).
The Group continues to benefit from a sound balance sheet with
cash balances at 31 December 2016 of GBP4.79 million compared to
GBP5.42 million at 31 December 2015. The GBP0.63 million decrease
in cash during the year is mainly attributable to the research and
development and overhead expenditure costs associated with the
continuing operations of the Group for the financial year.
DigitalGlassware(R)
The Company announced in January that during 2017 it anticipated
providing to early adopters trial product releases of
DigitalGlassware(R) its low-cost, easy to use chemical telemetry
product designed to enable the routine digitization of chemistry in
commercial and academic research laboratories.
At the heart of our DigitalGlassware(R) platform is the ability
to record chemistry being undertaken by the user with a precision
and breadth never previously achieved, while also collecting and
being able to tag chemical telemetry data in real time. We
anticipate eventually a community of users feeding into our
platform and collaborating to develop content resulting in a unique
dataset to enhance the understanding and productivity of research
chemistry.
The Group remains on track to meet this goal, with the first
manufactured run of DigitalGlassware(R) completed in February 2017.
Internal testing is currently in process at the Company's facility
in Glasgow.
Research and development
The Group continues to collaborate by way of its Research
Agreement with the Glasgow University research team led by
Professor Lee Cronin, on research and development applications
using and enabling the digitization of chemistry. This includes
scientific proof of concept work on the Chemputer(R), an autonomous
universal digital synthesis engine, as well as the development of
novel intellectual property to support the digitization of
chemistry and the Digital Glassware(R) product platform.
Board Changes
In accordance with the growing level of activity, Michael
Bretherton will assume the role of Finance Director with immediate
effect. The board anticipates further executive appointments in due
course.
Outlook
Testing, collaboration partnerships and further releases of the
DigitalGlassware(R) product platform are expected during 2017 as
the product platform is developed in advance of the first
commercial launch which is anticipated in 2018.
The board, along with the Scientific Advisory Committee, are
pleased with the Company's progression of its strategy and shall
continue to identify opportunities to commercialise the platform
technology and to exploit potential new innovations from the CRG
going forward.
James Ede-Golightly
Non-executive Chairman
28 March 2017
Company Number: 05845469
Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income
For the year ended 31 December 2016
Year to 31 December 2016 Year to 31 December 2015
GBP'000 GBP'000
----------------------------------------------------- ------------------------- -------------------------
Continuing operations
Revenue - -
----------------------------------------------------- ------------------------- -------------------------
Research and development costs (640) (112)
Administrative costs (176) (279)
----------------------------------------------------- ------------------------- -------------------------
Operating loss (816) (391)
Finance income 27 2
----------------------------------------------------- ------------------------- -------------------------
Loss before tax (789) (389)
Income tax credit 75 -
----------------------------------------------------- ------------------------- -------------------------
Loss from continuing operations (714) (389)
Discontinued operations
Loss from discontinued operations - (772)
Loss and total comprehensive loss for the year (714) (1,161)
----------------------------------------------------- ------------------------- -------------------------
Loss and total comprehensive loss for the year attributable to:
The Company's equity shareholders (714) (1,032)
Non-controlling interest - (129)
----------------------------------------------------- ------------------------- -------------------------
(714) (1,161)
----------------------------------------------------- ------------------------- -------------------------
Loss per share attributable to the equity holders of the Company:
Basic and diluted (pence) on continuing operations (0.14) (0.13)
----------------------------------------------------- ------------------------- -------------------------
Basic and diluted (pence) on total operations (0.14) (0.39)
----------------------------------------------------- ------------------------- -------------------------
Consolidated Statement of Financial Position
As at 31 December 2016
At 31 December 2016 At 31 December 2015
GBP'000 GBP'000
---------------------------------------------------------- -------------------- --------------------
Assets
Non-current assets
Intangible assets and goodwill 4,216 4,221
Investments 3 3
Plant and equipment 15 -
4,234 4,224
---------------------------------------------------------- -------------------- --------------------
Current assets
Trade and other receivables 30 35
Cash and cash equivalents 4,789 5,424
4,819 5,459
---------------------------------------------------------- -------------------- --------------------
Liabilities
Current liabilities
Trade and other payables (137) (53)
----------------------------------------------------------- -------------------- --------------------
Net current assets 4,682 5,406
Total net assets 8,916 9,630
----------------------------------------------------------- -------------------- --------------------
Equity and liabilities
Shareholder's equity
Called up share capital 53 53
Share premium 3,287 3,287
Merger reserve 4,880 4,880
Retained earnings 696 1,410
----------------------------------------------------------- -------------------- --------------------
Total equity attributable to shareholders of the Company 8,916 9,630
----------------------------------------------------------- -------------------- --------------------
Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows
For the year ended 31 December 2016
Year to 31 December 2016 Year to 31 December 2015
GBP'000 GBP'000
-------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------- -------------------------
Cash flows from operating activities
Operating loss from continuing operations (816) (391)
Loss from discontinued operations - (772)
Adjustments for:
Tax credit included in loss from discontinued operations - (47)
Loss on demerger of subsidiary included in loss from
discontinued operations - 199
Depreciation and amortisation charges 6 65
Profit on disposal of plant and equipment - (6)
Share based payments credit - (15)
-------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------- -------------------------
Operating cash outflows before movement in working capital (810) (967)
Decrease in trade and other receivables 5 26
Increase in trade and other payables 84 -
------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------- -------------------------
Cash used in operations (721) (941)
Interest received 27 2
Taxation received 75 47
------------------------- -------------------------
Net cash used in operating activities (619) (892)
-------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------- -------------------------
Cash flows from investing activities
Purchase of intangible assets - (16)
Purchases of property, plant and equipment (16) -
Proceeds from sale of plant and equipment - 6
Cash and bank in subsidiary at acquisition - 725
Cash and bank in demerged subsidiary - (262)
-------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------- -------------------------
Net cash (used) / generated from investing activities (16) 453
-------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------- -------------------------
Cash flows from financing activities
Proceeds from issue of share capital - 3,300
Cash generated from financing activities - 3,300
-------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------- -------------------------
Net (decrease) / increase in cash and cash equivalents (635) 2,861
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of year 5,424 2,563
------------------------- -------------------------
Cash and cash equivalents at end of year 4,789 5,424
-------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------- -------------------------
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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