Benchmark LON:BMK, the Worthing-based, AIM-listed animal biotechnology company published its 4Q24 and final results to end-September last week. The company’s main site is in Sheffield.
The aquaculture biotech company also appointed Tripp Lane as chairman, replacing Peter George, who is retiring. Lane comes from an advisory background, being founding partner of Delancey Cove, which focuses upon transitional governance and management of both private and public companies across all stages of their life cycle. Prior to Delancey, Lane was at investment management firms BlueMountain Capital and Apax in London and New York.
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Benchmark has had a challenging year, buffeted by market headwinds, but also a year of change, where it conducted a strategic review and disposed of its genetics division (post-period) to Novo Holdings for GBP260m. The sale of Benchmark’s genetics division represented a multiple of 17.9x adjusted earnings to end-June and management believed the disposal: “[…] unlocks significant value for shareholders and enables the group to focus on its Advanced Nutrition and Health business areas and creates an opportunity to reduce complexity and streamline the group to significantly reduce costs.”
Return of capital to shareholders
The money raised from the sale will in part be returned to shareholders, pay back some of the company’s debt repaying the group’s unsecured listed green bond and drawn amounts under the Benchmark’s revolving credit facility, and the disposal will go through in 1Q25, the company hopes.
The Genetics business has been treated as held for sale and discontinued in the Annual Report. The 2024 results for Genetics have been included in the final results in order to enable Benchmark’s shareholders to evaluate the performance and development of the group as a whole before the disposal took place.
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Revenues for the year were GBP90.4m, down 13% year-on-year. Adjusted earnings were also down y-o-y by 30% to GBP11.9m, with Benchmark reporting operating loss from continuing operations of GBP35.5m up 102% y-o-y with a basic loss per share of 5.34p, compared to a loss of 17.5p/share the year before.
Marginal improvement in Benchmark’s revenue
4Q24 was better for the company, reporting operational revenue GBP19.6m, 1% behind 4Q23. Total revenue, from continuing and discontinued operations was up 1% y-o-y to GBP36.8m. Nevertheless, operating loss from continuing operations was up 205% y-o-y to GBP20.8m
Benchmark’s chief executive, Trond Williksen said: “[The year] was transformational for the group. We managed to deliver a resilient performance amidst difficult market conditions, as well as realising significant shareholder value resulting from the successful development of our Genetics business over the years.”
Williksen explained that the company decided to move out of Genetics and streamline the business, focussing on it nutrition and health segments, reducing its costs and borrowings and return some capital to its shareholders.
He said: “Following the disposal, Benchmark will become a lean, profitable organisation with a solid balance sheet, focused on realising the significant value and potential in our continuing business where we have market leading positions, a track record of innovation and significant headroom for growth.”
Benchmark specialises on nutrition and medication for the aquaculture industry, developing food and nutritional supplements for fish farms and medications for fish disease and parasites. The genetics division was developing high-quality fish eggs, fry, larvae and fingerlings for salmon, shrimp, sea bass, sea bream and tilapia. The company aims to help aquaculture farmers by providing products that improve the health growth and overall sustainability of farmed fish stocks.
The company’s shares opened trading on Friday (13th December), at 33.95p, down 19% over three-months and down 5.7% over one year with the company’s shares ranging between 32p and 48p over 52-weeks. The company has a market cap of GBP250m.
