Oxo-biodegradable plastic technology company Symphony Environmental Technologies plc (LON:SYM) has continued momentum in the second half of 2017 after showing strong growth in the first.
Profit before tax increased 400% to £95,000 from £19,000 the year before on the back of a 14% increase in revenues to £3.69mln from £3.23mln in the first half of 2016.
The rise in revenues was primarily driven by demand in the Middle East and South America for Symphony's additive, d2w, which is used in controlled-life plastic technology.
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“Global demand for our d2w products is clearly increasing, as biodegradable plastics are becoming a more preferred solution, due to demands by governments and industry, and also by consumer pressure,” said Nirj Deva, chairman of Symphony.
Customer activity is at an all-time high for both d2w and d2p (“designed to protect”) protects and technologies, as governments introduce regulations to combat the growing ecological menace of plastic products.
The majority of the group's revenues are in US dollars, so the slide in the value of sterling since Brexit has been beneficial to the company.
“The issue of plastic pollution, especially by micro-plastics, has become a high-profile topic and the global pressure for change has never been greater than now. It is not a simple task to replace plastics due to cost and product attributes, such as food preservation and general protection. This developing situation is therefore creating more attention to less disruptive and more economical alternatives such as d2w controlled-life technology,” said chief executive Michael Laurier.
“Demand for d2w technology and finished products is therefore expected to increase as more governments pass legislation or accelerate the enforcement process. This, together with more consumer awareness is becoming a reality after many years of investment in PR and marketing,” he added.
As previously reported, Symphony has a substantial number of customer led d2p projects and Laurier revealed that some of these are nearing completion of the research & development stage.
The main areas include flame retardants, insecticides, and odour adsorbers, together with antimicrobial master-batches and finished products.