Trading Update and EU Case

Symphony Environmental Technologies plc (AIM: SYM), global specialists in technologies that make plastic and rubber products smarter, safer and more sustainable, announces the following updates.

Trading update

Revenue for the year ended 31 December 2023 was marginally higher than prior year at £6.35 million (2022: £6.15 million) with revenue for the second half of the year at £2.78m (2023 H1: £3.56 million). Gross margins and distribution costs are expected to be in line with H1 2023.

We advised in our 2023 interim statement that "some key trials were extended into H2-2023" and this continues to be an ongoing theme which is delaying the crystallisation of certain pipeline revenues. Also as previously advised, we continue into 2024 waiting for regulatory approvals for both d2w and d2p products in some important markets, over which we have no control on timescale.

In line with previous statements, opportunities for Symphony remain significant, and whilst these are taking considerably longer to convert than originally anticipated, a combination of more positive conversations, trials and other factors give the Board confidence that these can and will be converted in the short to medium term.

EU Case

After two years of written proceedings, the case brought by Symphony against the Commission, Parliament, and Council of the European Union was heard on 20 March 2023 in the General Court of the EU in Luxembourg. Symphony's case is that Art. 5 of the Single-use plastics Directive 2019/904 if and to the extent that it relates to oxo-biodegradable plastics, is unlawful and the Company is claiming substantial financial compensation.

We can now advise that Judgment will be delivered in open court at 9.30am (CET) on 31 January 2024.

Symphony has legal advice from Leading Counsel that Article 5 applies to oxo-degradable plastics, but not to oxo-biodegradable plastics such as those made with Symphony's d2w technology, but the global confusion caused by the wording of the legislation has been obstructing and delaying the adoption of the technology. For every day it remains in force Symphony suffers loss, but more important, ordinary plastic continues to be used, with thousands of tons getting into the open environment every week, where it will persist for 50 years or more. There is an urgent need for the adoption of d2w technology, which is already compulsory in the Middle East, so that it will quickly biodegrade leaving no microplastics or harmful residues.