Highlights:
-- Accoya(R) wood revenue increased by 39% to EUR40.7m (2014: EUR29.3m), driven by a 32% increase in volumes
-- Significant gross margin growth, up 400bps to 27%, due to the combined impact of increased Accoya(R) volumes, price increases and operating efficiencies
-- Continued momentum towards EBITDA breakeven with EBITDA loss reduced to EUR0.4m in the second half and underlying EBITDA loss of EUR2.4m for the year (2014: EUR5.0m loss)
-- Underlying loss before tax, excluding exceptional items, improved by 33% to EUR5.0m loss (2014: EUR7.5m loss)
-- Significant improvement in Group cash-flow with an underlying cash out-flow of only EUR1.3m during the period (2014: EUR4.8m)
-- Solvay progressing towards their first Accoya(R) plant in Freiburg, Germany; EUR2m prepaid in respect of conditional Accoya(R) Marketing Agreement with EUR0.7m recognised as revenue in the period
-- MoU with large international chemical group to build and operate new Tricoya(R) plant
-- Evolution of business model continues - Accsys moving beyond licensing model towards royalty and manufacturing based business
Paul Clegg, Chief Executive commented:
"The excellent progress made over the last year has left us in a very strong position to take advantage of the opportunities we now face and the Group is well equipped to build on its achievements to date as we enter the next phase of our development.
"I am encouraged by the progress during the year and the steps we have recently taken in respect of the first Tricoya plant. In addition, we remain committed to making further improvements to both our existing plant, and reviewing our requirements for further increases in manufacturing capacity, as we seek to meet the expected long term demand for our products.
"Our position now is stronger than at any point in our history and we continue to evolve our business model as we build towards becoming cash-flow positive in the year ahead and, longer term, achieving profitability."