OHT Ocean Harvest Technology Group Plc

27 January 2025

Ocean Harvest Technology Group plc

("OHT", the "Company", or the "Group")

Trading Update

Ocean Harvest Technology Group Plc (AIM: OHT), a leading researcher, developer and supplier of proprietary blended seaweed products as functional additives for the global animal feed industry, gives a trading update for the year to 31 December 2024.

Highlights

·      The Company continues to lead the way in the commercialisation of blended seaweed feed additives within the global animal nutrition sector for which it was granted two patents in 2024;

·      OHT expects reported revenue to be approximately €2.1M (2023: €3.4M) reflecting a combination of non-recurring commoditised single seaweed sales and the H1 impact of a deferral of orders from OHT's largest OceanFeed customer, whose own production was temporarily negatively impacted by a natural disaster;

·      Strong growth in H2 2024 with OceanFeed revenue growing approximately 30% vs H1;

·      Continued improvement in gross margins in H2 with OceanFeed margins to be in excess of 40% and expected to continue expanding in 2025;

·      As part of the strategy to expand geographical reach in a cost-effective manner, OHT has had first orders from three new distributors, and is in the latter stages of onboarding another five with discussions continuing with several other potential partners;

·      Continued investment in sales and marketing resource across LATAM, APAC and EMEA with two new sales people onboarded in 2024 and a further four people across sales, marketing and product management joining in January 2025; and

·      OceanFeed product registration is currently in progress for 10 new countries, expected to complete in H1 2025, demonstrating further progress in our planned global market expansion.

Outlook for 2025

·      Despite the challenges faced in 2024, the Company is entering 2025 with optimism, bolstered by numerous global initiatives aimed at accelerating growth and expanding market reach.

·      Given the substantial progress made since late 2024, the Company expects to deliver significant revenue growth in 2025 coupled with continued margin improvement and will provide more detail alongside the preliminary results, the date of which will be announced in due course.

Ashley Head, Executive Chair of OHT, commented:

"Despite a challenging year, I am pleased to see much improved performance in H2 compared with H1 with significant growth in OceanFeed revenue. 2024 has been a year of many changes for the Company as it seeks to position itself for the future and in 2025 we expect to see the first material signs of these changes positively impacting the company's financial results.

OHT is well placed for the year ahead and will continue to deliver on growing its customer base, investing in R&D where appropriate and building its supply chain to extend our position as the leading provider of blended seaweed additives to the animal feed industry. We look forward to significant progress in 2025 and will provide a further update with our full year results."

This announcement was deemed by the company to contain inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) no. 596/2014 as they form part of UK domestic law by virtue of the European Union (withdrawal) Act 2018. With the publication of this announcement, this information is now considered to be in the public domain.

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Notes to Editors

Ocean Harvest Technology Group plc is a global leader in the development and commercialisation of value adding proprietary products from blending multiple species of seaweed. The Company provides a range of natural additives focused on improving animal performance and the sustainability of the feed chain, through its unique and proven proprietary seaweed blends. The Company sources its seaweed globally, utilising sustainable and socially responsible harvesting of largely wild blooming seaweed species.  Its products are produced in its facility in Vietnam and sold into the $40bn animal feed additive sector in multiple markets across the world.