Biome Technologies

• 15/05/12

  Price Monitoring Extension

• 15/05/12

  Second Price Monitoring Extn

• 25/04/12

  Trading Update

• 25/04/12

  Result of AGM

• 04/04/12

  Notification of Award under the Public Equity Plan

• 

  29/03/12

  Biome Technologies delivers on full-year revenue forecast, losses strongly reduced

  The biodegradable plastics specialist has delivered on its revenue forecast from January. And CEO Paul Mines has never been as optimistic about the future of bioplastics as he has been lately, he told Proactive Investors.

• 

  08/02/12

  Daniel Stewart analysts reveal ‘Top Picks for 2012’

  The broker’s analyst team have highlighted their top picks from each of its primary coverage sectors. The preferred stocks are: Close Brothers, Standard Chartered, Abcam, Smith & Nephew, Playtech, Sportingbet, Biome Technologies, Porvair, Goldstone Resources, Stellar Diamonds, Petroceltic International, Chariot Oil & Gas, Globo and Probability.

   

• 

  04/11/11

  Biome Technologies delivering on “demanding forecasts”, says broker

  Daniel Stewart had already stated that it expected Biome to break even at the operating profit level by next year. Today, the broker said that the biodegradable plastics firm is delivering on its estimates

• 

  01/09/11

  Biome Technologies: on track to break even by next year

  Biome is on track to deliver a breakeven operating profit at the EBITDA level by 2012, according to its broker Daniel Stewart, after the firm delivered a 55 per cent increase in revenues during its first half

• 

  27/06/11

  Biome Technologies eco-makeover puts it on the fast-track to profitability

  Investors may remember Biome as Stanelco, which in the mid-noughties garnered a substantial and fervent private investor following. Today the real potential of the business is contained in the bioplastics business. 

   

• 25/04/12

  Biome Technologies expects sales to gain momentum as year progresses - UPDATE

• 25/04/12

  Biome Technologies expects sales to gain momentum as year progresses

• 29/03/12

  Biome Technologies delivers on full-year revenue forecast, losses strongly reduced

• 19/01/12

  Biome Technologies on target to meet City forecasts

• 10/01/12

  Biome Technologies’ Stanelco RF unit wins contract to develop welding system

•  

  08/09/2011

  Stocktube video - Biome Technologies CEO Paul Mines says Biome will produce better and better results

  Biome Technologies (LON:BIOM) CEO Paul Mines tells Proactive Investors that having just reported its best ever interims; now having its costs under control and in an area of global expansion, Biome Technologies is in an excellent position. Paul also talks about his belief that the share price will follow the results.
• 

  07/09/2011

  Biome Technologies One2One Investor Presentation - 7th September 2011 (PDF)

  Biome Technologies One2One Investor Presentation - 7th September 2011
• 

  29/06/2011

  Biome Technologies One2One Presentation - 29th June 2011 - Manchester (PDF)

  Biome Technologies One2One Presentation - 29th June 2011 - Manchester

The activities of Biome Technologies are split into two divisions: Bioplastics and Stanelco RF Technologies. Both divisions are underpinned by the group’s skills in the commercialisation and development of innovative technology.

The Group’s core strategy is to develop and broaden its bioplastics business organically through the exploitation of higher value areas where the properties of bioplastic materials are most suitable and valued.

The Group is engaged with a variety of large-scale international customers and partners on a number of key commercial and development partnerships.

These target applications in food, horticulture and electronics markets, amongst others, to exploit the Group’s existing and new products.

R&D at Biome Technologies seeks not only to enhance the functional characteristics but also reduce the cost base of its products. The Group protects its existing intellectual property in a robust manner and protects new developments through patents and confidentiality.

Biome Technologies is driving an international expansion of its activities and now operates in Europe, North America and Asia. The headquarters and R&D activity is based at Southampton in the UK.

Following 3 years of rapid sales growth, Biome Technologies listed on the AIM market in July 2010. AIM is the international market for growing companies trading on the London Stock Exchange. Such a listing allows both existing and new shareholders to participate in the growth of the group. Previously, Biome Technologies was listed on the main market as Stanelco plc.

The Group has robust ethical and governance policies and a Board committed to driving enhanced shareholder value.

Divisions

Biome Bioplastics

Biome Bioplastics is a leading innovator and supplier of plastics made from renewable resources and is a wholly owned subsidiary. Commercial strategy and development is driven from its UK base in Southampton. Sales are supported through a direct team and network of agents through three continents. The businesses science based approach ensures that new materials are designed from the molecule upwards resulting in materials that perform. New products are often developed in association with leading international companies.

Biotec is a 50% owned joint-venture based in northern Germany and is believed to be one of the largest manufacturing facilities of its type in the world. Biotec was acquired in 2005 and provides manufactured bioplastic product to Biome Bioplastics in addition to collaborating in the development of new materials. Biotec is jointly owned with SPhere S.A. of France, also a customer of Biotec, and is managed through an Advisory Board.

In combination these companies provide advanced product development, manufacturing and commercial capabilities to the emerging bioplastics market.

The strategy for this division is to:

• build a clear market leading position in bioplastics based on patented technology
• develop from existing patent/technology base a range of new functional products in application areas where premiums can be obtained
• create and build bioplastic markets by working intimately with consumer facing international business
• drive differentiation by developing and retaining a team that is recognised as head and shoulders above the competition in application and product engineering.

For more information please view the Biome Bioplastics website here and for Biome Bioplastics further news please click here

Stanelco RF Technologies

Stanelco RF Technologies designs, builds and services advanced radio frequency (RF) systems. Dielectric and induction heating products are at the core of a product offering that ranges from portable sealing devices to huge furnaces for the fibre optics market. The business is based in Southampton, UK, with a customer base that spans the globe. The experienced staff design and build both standard products and complex custom systems that are designed with cost and efficiency in mind.

Innovation lies at the core of the business capability and this has resulted in a leading position in the supply of advanced fibre optic furnaces to many of the world's leading producers of fibre.

“Stanelco” is a byword for safety and quality in the RF market and the business now has over 60 years of experience and knowledge. Recent changes have seen a growing position in export markets, particularly Asia, as the business has sought to leverage this knowledge more widely.

The Technology

Radio Frequency (RF) Technology

Since the early days of radio communication, experts in the field have known that many kinds of materials in a high-frequency field exhibit a heating effect. There are two methods of heating, depending on the material to be heated – Dielectric heating and Induction heating.

Stanelco RF Technologies is proud to have been developing and supporting a full range of radio frequency applications since the 1940s. Dielectric heating is particularly relevant to welding plastic sheet materials. RF Induction heating is applicable to precise heating of electrically conductive materials.

Dielectric Heating

Dielectric heating is a process for heating electrical insulators. Without forgetting the achievements of Nikola Tesla (1856-1943), Dielectric heating is historically independently attributed to Jacques Arsène d'Arsonval (1851-1940), together with the medical application of high frequency heating, Diathermy.

Most electrically insulating materials are made of molecules which have separate regions of positive and negative electric charge. If the material is placed in an electric field the molecules will rotate to align with the field, in much the same way that a compass needle aligns with the Earth's magnetic field.

Our Dielectric heating equipment uses an electric field which alternates at radio frequencies of typically 13.56, 27.12 or 40.68 million times per second, dependent on the application. The rapidly alternating electric field causes the molecules to vibrate, resulting in a heating effect, like food heating up in a microwave oven.

Dielectric heating is particularly appropriate for welding plastic sheet materials. Traditional heat sealing uses hot tooling to conduct heat into the plastic. To do this the tool must be hotter than the desired fusion temperature. When the tool comes into contact with the plastic, the surface is melted before the weld interface. Surface melting often produces a weak weld with a poor surface appearance.

Dielectric welding uses cold or warm tooling at temperatures significantly below the temperature at which plastic melts. Radio frequency power is applied, causing a uniform heating effect in the weld area. Because the tooling is significantly below the melting point of the plastic it cools the surface of the material, allowing the weld interface to melt before the surface. The end product is a stronger, more reliable weld.

Induction Heating

Induction heating is a process for heating electrically conductive materials. In 1831 Michael Faraday invented the solenoid and independently discovered the principle of Induction, leading to the understanding and exploitation of the related heating effects. In contrast to Dielectric heating which generates heat uniformly throughout the receiving material, Induction heating generates heat near the surface of the material, penetrating to a depth that is proportional to the frequency of the alternating current in the solenoid.

It works like this.

A metal component placed within or adjacent to an induction coil is heated by passing an electrical current through that coil, which in turn induces another current within the component. Heat is produced by resistance to that induced current, according to the I2R law (I=Current and R=Resistance) and also by hysteresis loss in magnetic materials. Hysteresis can be simply explained as; the friction between molecules as they are magnetised first in one direction and then in the other. It is this friction that is turned into heat. In magnetic materials the hysteresis effect disappears at the Curie temperature (approximately 1400°F, 760°C).

Hysteresis Loss in magnetic materials

Frequency

At frequencies used for induction heating, the current tends to flow in the surface of the conductor, to a depth dependant on the resistivity of the conductor, the frequency of the alternating current and the effective permeability of the conductor. The effective depth of current penetration, in metric form, is given by the formulae:

p = depth of current penetration

r = resistivity in microhm centimetres

F = frequency in cycles per second

µ = effective permeability

(µ = 1 for non magnetic materials)

By choosing the correct frequency, we can control how much of the material is heated. If we use a high frequency, the effective penetration would be very small. As the frequency decreases, so the depth of penetration increases.

For more information please view the Stanelco RF Technologies website here

John F Standen, aged 62, Non Executive Chairman

John became our Non-Executive Chairman in 2007. John is Non Executive Chairman of Lavendon Group plc. He is also Chairman of Council at the University of Hull. John was previously Non-Executive Chairman of Reg Vardy plc until its sale in

2006. He spent his career in corporate finance and was Chief Executive of BZW Corporate Finance before retiring from Barclays Bank plc in 1998.

Paul R Mines, aged 47, Chief Executive Officer

Paul was appointed CEO in early 2007. An engineer with an MBA from London Business School, Paul spent his earlier career at ICI plc and Courtaulds plc and has 17 years experience in the plastics and packaging industry, managing high growth markets, turnarounds and M&A. For the eight years to 2006, Paul was CEO of the Betts Group having led a management buy-out of the company from Courtaulds plc. He was recently Non Executive Chairman of CEL-F Solar Systems Limited (trading as Ecolution), a renewable energy business backed by HBOS growth capital. He is also a Director of Windmine Limited.

Susan J Bygrave, aged 44, Group Finance Director

Sue was appointed Group Finance Director on 5 January 2009. Prior to joining Stanelco, she was Group Finance Director of VEGA Group plc (now VEGA Consulting Services Limited), a specialist professional services group, then listed on the London Stock Exchange. Prior to this she worked for Mettoni Group plc, DCS Group plc and KPMG, with whom she qualified as a chartered accountant.

Michael Kayser, aged 55, Independent Non Executive Director

Michael was appointed as Non Executive Director on 6 October 2010 and chairs the Audit and Remuneration Committee. His previous experience includes Group Finance Director at Laporte PLC for five years and Finance Director of Guinness Brewing Worldwide. He is currently Non-Executive Director of Stobart Group plc.

• As at 13 April 2010, significant shareholders holding 3%+ of issued capital are:

Holder	%
Fiske Nominees Limited	13.1%
TD Waterhouse Nominees (Europe)	10.5%
Schroders	8.3%
Barclayshare Nominees Limited	7.5%
L R Nominees Limited	4.6%
Pershing Nominees Limited	3.8%
Giltspur Nominees Limited	3.2%
James Capel (Nominees) Limited	3.1%

Connect with Facebook to view or add comments for this company