Revenue and profits up for seal scarer maker OTAQ

Revenue increased to £2.03 million, a rise of 16% compared to the £1.76m made in the same period last year.

Gross profit rose by 13% to £1.4m (HY 2019: £1.01m), and adjusted EBITDA increased by 22% to £0.39m (HY 2019: £0.32m).

The company, which has branches in Lancaster, Ulverston and Aberdeen, and in Puerto Montt, Chile, has maintained its expectation to report revenue of £4.0m and adjusted EBITDA of £0.5m for the year to March 31, 2021.

Sales to Faroes

Operating highlights in the first half included delivering direct sales of its SealFence acoustic deterrent devices (ADDs) to customers in the Faroe Islands, while also launching the SealFence portable product in addition to new installations in Scotland and Ireland.

OTAQ said it has also made significant progress on the delivery of its biomass counting and algal bloom early warning projects for fish farmers, with additional infrastructure put in place to support successful delivery.

Strong position to grow

Alex Hambro, non-executive chairman of OTAQ plc, said: “Whilst Covid-19 is expected to continue to impact operations and business development for the remainder of the financial year, we believe that the Group is well placed to return to a normal level of operations and business development activities once travel restrictions are lifted.

“Furthermore, we believe that the business will be in a strong position to further grow its market share once the regulatory requirements across its target markets are clarified.

“While trading conditions have been impacted by wider issues, we remain excited by the potential to diversify revenue streams both geographically and through further enhancing our product portfolio. Importantly, the business remains well placed to trade through this period of uncertainty and take advantage of strong growth opportunities as conditions allow.”