ABINGDON, England--(BUSINESS WIRE)--P2i, the world leader in liquid repellent nano-coating technology, announces results for the year ended 31 July 2010.

Financial highlights

• Revenues up 207% to £3.2m
• Royalties up three-fold to £1.7m
• Electronics revenues up six-fold to £1.4m; fastest growing segment
• Filtration & energy dramatic new growth up to £0.7m following breakthrough contract
• Strong operation gearing; 56% increase in costs supports 207% increase in revenues
• £5.8m cash at year end following successful £5.5m fund raising in May 2010

Operational highlights

• Market trends driving adoption of P2i nano-coating technologies
• Strong progress in key sectors
  • Electronics: now serves three of the world's five largest hearing aid manufacturers; Aridion^TM liquid repellent nano-coating will be used on half the hearing aids manufactured next year
  • Lifestyle: leading footwear brands adidas, ECCO, K-Swiss, Nike and Timberland adopt ion-mask^TM technology on selected styles
  • Filtration & Energy: successful delivery of a large roll-to-roll system to one of the world's largest and most sophisticated filtration companies
  • Military/clothing: delivered a large system to the UK Ministry of Defence
• Acquisition of Surface Innovations adding 'functional' coating technologies, with applications including anti-bacterial resistance, liquid attracting (super wettable)

Carl Francis, chief executive of P2i, said:

"This has been a great year. We trebled revenues and doubled the size of our company to satisfy the growing demand for our unique nano-coating technology.

"We have a highly-scalable business based on proprietary and game-changing technology, developed by an outstanding team and backed by solid funding. We are confident in P2i's future as the dominant global force in functional nano-coatings."

Operational and financial review

The year ended 31 July 2010 was an exciting period for P2i. Sales rose three-fold with increases in all five sectors in which the company operates. The company doubled in size and also in capacity, with the addition of 24 new plasma machines for the coating of customers' products.

Progress in every sector was solid:

• Electronics was the biggest growth driver with a six-fold increase in sales to £1.4m. P2i now serves three of the world's five largest hearing aid manufacturers and P2i's Aridion^TM liquid repellent nano-coating will be used on about half of the hearing aids manufactured globally next year.
• Lifestyle saw significant growth, with leading footwear brands adidas, ECCO, K-Swiss, Nike and Timberland adopting P2i's ion-mask^TM technology on selected styles.
• Filtration & Energy were key markets this year with delivery of a large roll-to-roll system to one of the world's largest and most sophisticated filtration companies. Sales grew dramatically to £0.7m.
• In Life Sciences, P2i delivered a pipette tip processing system to a leading company in the bio-consumables market, following successful, long-term projects with Eppendorf.
• Military & Institutional sales rose to £0.5m. In a major move into both military markets and clothing, P2i delivered a large system to the UK Ministry of Defence. P2i also began a development project with Global Armour, a technology-driven manufacturer of body armor for police and military forces worldwide.

Trends in all these sectors are highly encouraging. As consumer electronic devices become smaller and lighter there is less space for traditional engineered solutions that deter liquids. As a result, mobile phones and other gadgets are a significant new market for nano-coating technologies and P2i is already in trials with a number of leading manufacturers to demonstrate both liquid repellency and stain, smudge and scratch resistance.

In footwear the trend is for lighter, breathable, stay-dry products, while the technical demands on filtration, healthcare and human protection products continue to increase.

P2i's strategy is to build on its leadership in its target markets to become the nano-coating solution of choice across a wide range of industries and applications. This strategy was enhanced with the acquisition of Surface Innovations Limited, a UK-based research and development company with a large patent portfolio that focuses on a range of functional nano-coatings. P2i now owns 46 patent families, up from 30 last year.

Customer adoption of P2i's nano-coating technology in all core markets helped to increased sales three-fold to £3.2m (2009: £1.0m), with an additional £1.2m in deferred income which was invoiced during the year but will be recognized in future periods.

Across all sectors, royalty revenues grew strongly, up three-fold to £1.7m, and now account for over half of P2i's sales (2009: £0.6m). Growth in royalties was driven by the on-going operation of nano-coating systems sold in 2009 and 2010, demonstrating the strength of the P2i business model.

The geographic distribution of revenues reveals the global nature of P2i's customer base, with 15% from Asia, 58% from Europe, and 27% from North America (2009: 8%, 65%, and 27% respectively).

Gross margins improved to 58% (2009: 56%) on the back of high margin royalty revenues. P2i's cost base expanded to support growth, with year-end head count more than doubling from 32 to 66, and facilities expanded to support sales and product development.

At £5.1m, operating costs (excluding depreciation and amortization) were 56% higher than 2009, but this supported the 207% increase in sales, demonstrating the operational gearing inherent in P2i's business model. EBITDA for the year stood at a loss of £2.9m (2009: £2.5m).

Following a £5.5m Series D fund raising in May 2010, P2i ended the year with cash of £5.8m, which the Board believes to be sufficient to support P2i's growth plans in 2011.

Summary and outlook

P2i has developed proven, scalable, industrial solutions for its customers that demand the highest performing nano-coatings. The business is based on proprietary and game-changing technology, developed by an outstanding team and backed by solid funding.

The Board remains very confident in P2i's future as the dominant global force in functional nano-coatings.

-Ends-

For more information, visit www.p2i.com

Contacts

College Hill
Adrian Duffield
+44 (0)20 7457 2815
or
Carl Franklin
+44 (0)20 7457 2823