It’s the quarterly season again as the ASX market announcements page becomes increasingly flooded with update lodgements.

To save you the trouble of trudging through it all, we’ve wrapped up the highlights from some of the reports that caught our eye.

 

Roots Sustainable Agricultural Technologies (ASX:ROO)

During the quarter, the agritech company continued to progress a number of activities which led to a strengthened intellectual property portfolio and international sales footprint.

In Canada, Roots was granted a design patent post-quarter which considerably broadens the company’s addressable market. The Canadian Patent Office granted Roots a patent for its innovative Heat Exchange Probe technology.

Root’s patented Heat Exchange probe offers several advantages such as increased yield, early maturity and energy savings for air heating and cooling in a greenhouse setting. The company is now set to target the Canadian greenhouse sector, which plays a major role in the country’s agricultural sector.

In the US, Roots also strengthened its IP suite after filing another application with the US Patent Office. The provisional patent application was for Roots’ irrigation-by-condensation technology, with new upgrades including rain collection and a drip irrigation option. This follows two separate US patent applications lodged in 2022.

Post quarter end, Roots secured its maiden sale in the Philippines through a US$6,500 purchase order for a Mini-Roots system. The order was made by an agricultural company that will deploy the technology for root zone cooling in relation to strawberry growing.

Subsequent to the end of the quarter, the company also received firm commitments to raise $650k (before expenses), by way of a placement of CDIs to sophisticated and professional investors.

Participants in the Placement will receive one free attaching option for every one Placement CDIs subscribed. Funds raised will be used towards the payout of existing creditors, local and international sales and marketing activities, and further IP registrations.

Following this cap raise, Roots says it remains well placed to capitalise on a number of opportunities that are currently underway.

 

Pureprofile (ASX:PPL)

Data and insights firm Pureprofile has delivered $10.3m in quarterly revenue for the core Data & Insights and SaaS platform businesses, representing 22% growth on pcp.

SaaS platform revenue grew growth by 35% on pcp, while other divisions also performed well in the quarter, with Data & Insights UK/EU/US revenue growing by 33% on pcp.

Following the closure of the Pure.amplify Media business in the UK in Q1 FY23, Pureprofile has decided to close its Pure.amplify Media business in Australia, effective immediately. This business unit has experienced incredibly challenging trading conditions over the past nine months, and was not considered core to the company’s growth strategy.

Pureprofile saw continuing business revenue growth in regions outside Australia, up 32% on pcp, which has exceeded growth in Australia of 15%.

There is also continuing business EBITDA growth of 121% on pcp due to strong revenue growth, improved gross margin, coupled with strong management of expenses during the quarter.

“Looking forward, we are now able to be 100% focused on Data and Insights which we are confident will result in accelerated growth,” said Pureprofile CEO, Martin Filz.

 

Estia Health (ASX:EHE)

During the quarter, aged care company Estia Health completed the previously announced purchase of a 120-place fully-operational home in Mount Clear, Ballarat for a net cash outlay of $15.9 million, and the assumption of Refundable Accommodation Deposit liabilities of $12.9 million.

The home was built in 2019, comprises all single ensuite rooms and spot occupancy at 30 April was 95.8%. The home is expected to deliver EBITDA in the first full year of ownership of approximately $3.0 million.

The acquisition of Mount Clear continues the group’s strategy to sustainably grow its portfolio, including purchasing high quality homes that are aligned to its existing successful operating clusters. Occupancy has increased since acquisition by 9.7% to 88.6%, reflecting an increase of 40 residents. Net RAD inflows over the five months to 30 April have been $7.3 million, in line with expectations.

During Q3, Estia also continued earnings and cash flow momentum in line with its Q2 run rate as impact of Covid-19 on operating costs continues to decline. Net debt as at 30 April was $72.2 million after the Mount Clear completion.

A non-exclusive engagement with Bain Capital was commenced in relation to its non-binding indicative proposal to acquire 100% of Estia Health shares.

 

Share prices today:

 

 

At Stockhead we tell it like it is. While Roots Sustainable Agricultural Technologies is a Stockhead advertiser, it did not sponsor this article.

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