Hi all, see my notes below from the call.
PNV will be a beast over the comming decade IMO.
Dave Williams,Chairman
Red letter day.We are now profitable.Situation where most start-ups never get to.
Has implications on whether or not we need more capital.
Now have more or less stable costs…of course will go up with more sales staff…only putting those people on because they will generate more profit
Magnificent growth of only 49% in US
This time last year had 18 staff in US, now have 36 with 4 more to be appointed….target 50 staff
New staff putting on in Ireland, UK
Just on the issue of cash…if you look carefully we had 7m in Dec, and we have 7m now.We’ve built the factory etc, still have some clinical trials
Paul Brennan, CEO
Growth in the face of restricted travel, border closures, denied hospital access
New account acquisitions, 3 new GPO’s
Hernia factory complete, albeit delayed.Have manufactured over 1,300 Syntrel devices to begin large animal study.
BARDA, now open in 5 hospitals in US.Will be 25 in US/Canada
Team.78 people to +110 today.Expanding QA team, R&D resources.
Cashflows.Will put to bed any concerns to manage debt
Middle east.Been very much on hiatus with covid
Asia.Studies in 5 hospitals.Very sophisticated and developed health system in Taiwan
Australia. Continue to see growth.Now have a person in Perth.Also Vic/Tas. Qld
NZ.Very well penetrated. A lot of peer-to-peer referral.Very strong business for us.White island in FY20 had significant impact from white island tragedy
Europe.Have used distributors for speed and cost.Markets contributing significantly to reinvest, particularly in US.
USA.Growth at 49%. Able to service customers on an overnight basis.Have won new accounts. Increased sales reps from 18 to 36.Ambition at ½ yr was to get to 30 people. Sales people generate positive revenue very quickly.
Canada.Expanded our reach.Surgeries on multiple children.Well down the path of accreditation.
BARDA.Enthusiasm to join.Surgeons are passionate about using BTM.The want to support us to get approval.
Synpath/Chronicwounds.Had closure within 7 weeks. Next step 100 patient randomised controlled trial. Note we already have FDA approval. This is for financial reimbursement through health insurers.
Australia Highlights.Revenue growth, Volume growth.Small sizes really picking up in Australia.Eg. Elective surgeries, chronic wounds, small surgeries such as melanoma excisions etc.
Significantly growing non-burn sales globally.
UK/Ireland Highlights.Novosorb has been sold to 23 hospitals.Volumes not yet high due to covid.See Ireland as a very strong driver of business.
Note we didn’t enter UK through burns, rather through trauma route.
Distributor MarketsHighlights.Entered in a very short time. 53% growth in sales.Working on France, Portugal, Spain.Will enter this FY.
Also opening a distribution centre in Belgium.Service distributors and business throughout Europe.Will cut costs and be able to respond to supply/demand.
New Product Development.Syntrel hernia factory now fully commissioned. Through this process now have a much greater in-house skills set.Will now commission a different style of welding head which will increase speed by 10x.Already working on driving down costs etc.Large animal study in pigs. Some banter out there that this is BTM.This is not BTM.The only component the same is the foam.It is a completely different formula.Solid->liquid.Studying result and speed of film breakdown. Lead to a plethora of other devices where the film will provide strength in the body.
Anticipate FDA filing in March 23.
Rectus muscle space ??
Synpath.Different sizes.Smaller sizes and also providing a size that goes to maximu of reimbursement size. Reimbursement trial will utilise some of the smaller sizes.Hoping to have this for late 23, early 24.Open up 400m market.
Betacell are now ready to commence human trials.Have funding for juvenile diabetes.Waiting for Covid restrictions. Will see some more news on this.
FY22 Strategies.Concurrent product development rather than sequential.
Arterial leg ulcer study.Previously only option was to amputate, but getting closure with BTM. What is the physiological difference Novosorb is providing for these very difficult ulcers?
Our product is actually improving someone else’s life and their long term outcome and improvement.
COVID impacts.Vaccinations will see liberation of the markets to service non-covid related requirements.Seeing significant improvement in face-to-face and hospital access in US and Europe.
Yan Gielen, CFO
June record of 3.3m sales gives us a good run rate for FY22
34 of the 99 new customers (hospitals) in the USA
Q&A
7 covering analysts today
Bank of America.US, Are you still getting good access to hospitals? Volume, is it driven by lockdown restrictions or movement as opposed to being able to access hospitals.
PB.Very strong July, backing up June.August also still strong.US isn’t having lockdowns, people still travelling freely. Where they have choke points is in trauma/ICU.Overall access to hospitals is good.Some hospitals still have restricted access due to Covid. We see the US getting freer each month, not going the other way.
What is the focus for new sales team members?Have a lot of headroom for growth in new accounts. Also have a lot of growth opportunities in existing accounts.Eg, outside of burns and trauma.You will see both new accounts and penetration in FY22.
UK, new sizing, opportunities, what is lost revenue from shifting from lager sizes to smaller sizes and volume?Not going to see a loss of revenue.Offering 5x5 instead of 10x10 actually increases potential number of patients.Therefore should see good revenue drive, rather than loss of revenue.
EU/UK,How does it compare to other markets?Europe is actually picking up speed.Will continue to see strong growth. UK has been a bit of a lag, but now starting to pick up pace.Throughputs and elective surgery increasing.Australia has had very strong sales, even during lockdown last month in NSW.
Macquarie.How are sales of GPO’s progressing?Have bought quite a few new accounts in the time we’ve been with them, but not yet a large amount of volume.Set up system to track GPO sales.Will see further acceleration in 2022.
Pricing?Any changes in pricing from direct to GPO’s.Yes, have seen small increasing in pricing.$8.50->$9 av per cm2.Have given commitments to customers not to raise pricing in first couple of years. Strategy.Price increases therefore only with new accounts and GPO’s.Increase margins.
Any regions still impacted by Covid?Delta?Guessing is difficult.From what we see, where vaccination rates are high, things seem to be relatively normal. Bed congestion in southern states where vaccination rates are not high.We have weathered that storm in the past.FY21 was Covid reactive, now with vaccinations world is more Covid resilient.People are travelling more freely.
Bell Potter.Sales force, how many would you like to get to? No point just giving numbers.Will continue to invest to drive sales, geographical regions and deeper penetration of accounts.Likely to be somewhere close to 50 this FY, but may be higher if we see opportunities to advance more revenue.Board has never said we shouldn’t be recruiting because they are self-funding.
Targeting certain geographies or hospitals?It’s a mix.Eg, Nevada, Utah.Have 3 in California and are expanding more.Sales people with smaller geographic regions, able to penetrate deeper.Multitude of sales strategies that are going on in the business.
Ibbetson partners.Guide on headcount over next 12 months? Total number.Split on sales v support staff?Majority will be sales staff.Some to R&D. A couple in Finance.Outside consultant working on HR structure to service rapid revenue growth and customer service.A couple of months to run.A couple more in UK at the moment, NZ.Expand out European distributor service team. Only one person at the moment.
110 people now, would 150 or 180 be appropriate?Closer to 140 of total staff by end FY22
Indication of top line growth?David Williams…pretty clear 14 people in US, couple in England, Aus.Oz looking at around 750k-1m per person.If not self-funding, they get moved on.CFO…Fy21, had access to 50% hospitals, now 70-80%.Will it be double? No.Look at last qtr and run rate, give good indication of what FY22 might look like.
Capex…400k committed this year…what is it likely to be..1m?CFO, depending on what products etc…will be light…not over 1m that’s for sure.
CLSA.Aust BTM revenue.Volume up, looks like fall in av sales price? PB.Av sales price in US actually gone up.Smaller product per sq cm is not a dilution.
Dave Williams summary
Really is a numbers game, should be self-funding.Costs under control.Not giving guidance.Last qtr of FY21 strong, last month a record. 49% growth rate in US to be celebrated and just a tip of the iceberg.