ASX Quarterly Wrap: RLF AgTech in positive territory, Optiscan cash receipts more than double

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.

RLF AgTech (ASX:RLF)

Highlights:

Strong cash receipts from customers for the half-year and positive net operating cash flow for quarter
RLF appoints Zaiqian Zhang as chief financial officer along with strengthening its carbon team
Starts product trial on 80 durian fruit trees of different age groups on an RLF-leased farm site in Vietnam

During Q2 FY24 the global plant nutrition and carbon technology company received total payments of $3.67 million, which is 36% higher than the first quarter. For H1 FY24 RLF received total payments of $6.38 million from its customers, up from $6.38 million on pcp, with the majority receipts being prepayments from customers in China following RLF’s early order program.

RLF results of its durian fruit trees trial, which got underway during the quarter are expected in the next nine months.

The company says Durian fruits are very popular in East and Southeast Asian countries with both demand and market value high.

During the quarter, RLF’s Cambodian distributor received positive feedback on its products and acquired over 10 new dealers to expand its geographical presence the country.

The company says it’s also made substantial progress in expanding its carbon business.

Managing director and CEO Ken Hancock says in an ASX announcement RLF has delivered a strong quarter, building up the cash balance and achieving positive net operating cash flow for the quarter.

“It is also pleasing to see that we continue to expand our presence in both China and Southeast Asia, which are supported by our long-term effort in investing in R&D,” he says.

“For RLF’s Carbon business, I am excited to announce that the company’s alliance with CBA and the ambitious Hillston Project have progressed as planned, together with the strengthened team, RLF is well positioned for future growth in the carbon sector.”

On 11 October 2023, RLF released its inaugural market guidance since listing on the ASX in April 2022, estimating an annual revenue of $15 million to $16 million for FY24.

RLF says the guidance range represents an estimated growth target of ~30% to ~40% compared to the actual revenue for FY23 of $11.5 million.

Cash balance at December 31, 2023 was $2.85 million, up from $2.24 million at the end of September.

Optiscan (ASX:OIL)

Cash receipts from customers more than double in Q2 FY24 from previous quarter to $403k
Sale of ViewnVivo research device through China-based distributor to large Chinese university
Increase in US market opportunities with rental agreement signed to supply the ViewnVivo research device to large US medical centre of excellence

The biotech says significant progress was made in product development during the quarter with the higher investment towards R&D of $1.1 million for the quarter, resulting in a net cash outflow from operating activities of $2 million.

OIL says development of its Telepathology solution made strong progress during the quarter, with the alpha phase of the project completed in December. Development of an artificial intelligence solution to automatically classify images is progressing concurrently.

A revised InVivage was unveiled during the quarter that includes a more intuitive user-interface with initial feedback from users very positive.

Work on a new surgical device commenced in during the December quarter, which is expected to be unveiled in Q3 FY24.

The company also commenced development of its laboratory-based pathology device in December with completion anticipated in Q1FY25.

During the quarter, OIL continued to work on the required documentation for the InVivage FDA De Novo application.

Two business development managers based in the US joined the company during the quarter to support the North American direct-to-market strategy for its life sciences product.

OIL attended the Cell Bio 2024 conference resulting in several promising leads which are being actively pursued, along with taking part in several other opportunities to raise its profile during the quarter. In China, OIL says sales were in line with targets for the period with new leads also added to the pipeline.

The company says overall the balance sheet remains strong with a total of $13.7 million made up of cash and term deposits at at December 31, 2023.

Strategic Elements (ASX:SOR)

SOR wholly-owned subsidiary Australian Advanced Materials reported its Energy Ink tech, achieved “unprecedented power density from moisture in the air”
Australian Advanced Materials inks formal agreement with UNSW during the quarter, with ARC project commencing in January
Wholly-owned Sealth Technologies finalises mining tech demonstrator and starts showcasing and engaging with potential partners

The venture builder that combines teams of leading scientists or innovators in unique technology or resources sectors to establish new ventures and projects has released its December quarterly update.

SOR says Energy Ink’s power density, a crucial metric for comparing technologies, surpassed that of other published moisture-based power generation methods.

During the quarter Professor Dewei Chu, lead innovator of Energy Ink at UNSW, was awarded an Australian Research Council (ARC) Industry Fellowship for mid-career researchers.

The fellowship provides funding for Professor Chu to apply his globally recognised expertise in generating electrical energy from moisture to the Australian Advanced Materials project on a full-time basis for four years.

SOR says its wholly-owned Sealth Technologies has been finalising its mining technology demonstrator during the quarter and has started showcasing the technology and engaging with potential partners in the mining industry.

During the quarter Stealth offered engineering assistance to the AAM and UNSW collaboration. Additionally, Stealth accomplished data collection for late-stage broadacre weed detection technology in partnership with the Australian Herbicide Resistance Initiative, a global leader in herbicide resistance and cropping system management.

SOR says during the sector its wholly-owned Maria Resources progressed on the Cyclops Project to determine the most economical options of exploring the area under the recently granted EIS funding received from the Western Australian Government.

Across the group, net expenditure was $676k. SOR ended the quarter with a cash position of $6.6 million and no debt. SOR expects ~$700k to be paid under the R&D tax incentive scheme during the March quarter.

EZZ Life Science (ASX:EZZ)

Highlights:

Customer receipts for Q2 FY24 total $13.6 million, a 57% increase on pcp and 102% increase on Q1 FY24
Expanded distribution network with trading commencing during quarter on DFS Sydney, Chemist Warehouse Marketplace, and O’mall Global
Seven new products launched during Q2 FY24, adding $200k to cash receipts and contributing 1.8% to cash inflows from customers during quarter

The genomic life science company attributes the strong cash inflow to the success of the Double 11 Shopping Festival. The EZZ L-Lysine Capsule ranked number one on Tmall Global within the children’s essential minerals category as both the best selling and most repurchased product.

EZZ continued to expand its brick-and-mortar network and commenced trading within DFS’s flagship store in Sydney, while also adding two new ecommerce distribution channels during the quarter. Total sales contributed by thee new distribution channels were $600k.

By the end of Q2 FY24, revenue derived from EZZ’s partnership with HIC was $3.8 million with the first sale generated in early September 2023.

Operating cash outflow was $750k for the quarter partially due to the increase in costs of producing additional products to meet expected increase in sales associated with the HIC contract.

Investments in marketing increased from $3.5 million in Q1 FY24 to $9 million in Q2 FY24 to support newly established channels and the implementation of a mix of targeted promotion strategy,

Shareholders received a fully franked final dividend of 1 cent/share for FY23 resulting in a payout of $400 million in Q2 FY24.

EZZ’s concluded the quarter with a cash balance of $12.6 million and nil debt.

Parkway Corporate (ASX:PWN)

Highlights:

Cash receipts from customers of $820k in December quarter, following record prior quarter
Strong balance sheet underpins ongoing investment in technology and capability development
Parkway Process Solutions focusing on strategically important, particularly process tech-related projects

The industrial water treatment technology says its PWN Parkway Process Technologies (PPT) division has advanced its technology platform with focus on several large-scale opportunities during the quarter.

The company is evaluating the feasibility of providing innovative technology-based solutions, for a range of large scale oil and gas, mining and mineral processing related operations.

PWN says commercialisation will be accelerated through the Centre for Brine Technologies. Furthermore PWN says PPT has made ongoing progress in advancing a major project, the subject of a recent feasibility study.

During the quarter PWN says Parkway Process Solutions (PPS) continued focus on strategically important, particularly process technology related projects, with less focus on non-strategic short-term revenue generation.

These projects included progressing development of modular water treatment systems incorporating PPT technologies, with various near term applications, including as part of the company’s master plan.

At December 31, 2023, PWN had $3.90 million in cash reserves and $1.80 million in inventory. A R&D tax incentive scheme rebate of $530k for FY23 is forecast to be received in February.

The RLF, OIL, SOR, EZZ & PWN share price today:

At Stockhead we tell it like it is. While RLF AgTech, Optiscan, Strategic Elements, EZZ Life Science and Parkway Corporate are Stockhead advertisers, they did not sponsor this article.