plant health care plc


1
from inventor to investor
the inventor
sometimes help comes from unexpected places it was a power outage
that led plant health care founder and chief scientist donald marx to an
important discovery in developing a unique environmentallyfriendly way to
foster plant growth
marx’s research career has been devoted to mycorrhizal fungi which are vital
to plant health and have existed on plant roots for millions of years
while with the usda forest service in the 1960’s he set up a greenhouse
experiment to grow these fungi on pine seedlings one weekend the power
went out shutting off the greenhouse cooling system when he arrived the next
morning the temperature in the greenhouse had reached more than 130

Summary:
 plant health care plc


8
chairman’s statement

our core business is to provide natural products which promote plant growth health and
yield with environmental care there are few more topical issues in the markets today than
increased world population the rapid growth of a sizeable middle class in emerging
economies demanding higher protein diets and the drive for biofuels these have all
contributed to higher demand levels for agricultural products than has ever been seen
before at the same time the availability of productive agricultural land in suitable climate
zones is becoming more limited despite signiﬁcant productivity increases from advances
in seeds fertilisers pest control and land management the demandsupply balance is
being seriously tilted crop prices are rising and strategic security concerns are being
aired major agriscience and agrichemical companies are responding to this by seeking
the next wave of technology innovation to further improve yields and reestablish balance
in order to secure their own future proﬁtability
plant health care is very well positioned in this market environment with the proven
capabilities of our ipprotected natural technologies as evidenced by our two major
partnership deals with bayer cropscience and monsanto for myconate and harpin
respectively we have set two strategic targets growth and product development our
major target is to exploit our natural technologies through two sales channels major
partnerships with signiﬁcant players who have the distribution and resources to achieve
wide penetration for our technologies in high volume row crops and product sales through
major national distributors for more fragmented markets where we can be cost effective in
reaching customers we also continue to pursue the strategy of securing and developing
innovative natural technologies and products with a high level of intellectual property
protection for plant growth health and yield which can fulﬁl the above market demand
an overview of 2007 the most important milestones during the period were the ﬁrst two major partnership
agreements signed for our natural technologies in january bayer cropscience agreed to
develop and commercialise myconate seed treatment applications for corn cotton
soybean and sunﬂowers while in december monsanto entered into an agreement with
us to evaluate develop and commercialise certain applications of our harpinbased
technology suite
the latter agreement was made possible by our acquisition in february 2007 of certain
assets and the harpin intellectual property from eden bioscience another highlight
of our year
in 2007 we continued our pursuit of sales growth our performance was pleasing with
record revenue in almost all business units in particular in its ﬁrst full year of operation our
us agriculture division successfully introduced plant health care into what will be an
important market for the future
shareholder support for the company was demonstrated when in september we raised
10 million of new equity which has left us in a strong cash position with no foreseeable
need for further capital or borrowings to fulﬁl our present plans
financial results revenue for the year was 183 million an increase of 34 over 2006 137 million
the gross margin was 456 2006 447 although increased expenses associated
with the development and testing of our myconate and harpin technologies together with plant health care plc


9
chairman’s statement
continued

the costs of our ﬁrst full year of operation in the us agriculture market led to an operating
loss before exceptional costs and the costs of equity sharebased payments of
44 million 2006 loss of 25 million after exceptional costs the costs of equity
sharebased payments interest and a small taxation charge on certain overseas
operations the net loss for the year was 54 million 2006 loss of 30 million
at 31 december 2007 net cash was 98 million 2006 37 million
board changes i am pleased to announce that steve weaver was appointed to the board on 28 march
2008 steve joined us as chief financial ofﬁcer in may 2007 and has made invaluable
contributions in improving our ﬁnancial controls analysis and reporting to meet our needs
as we grow he has also proven himself a strong contributor in strategic discussions and
we look forward to his input as a board member in the coming years
today we are also announcing that our two longest serving board members don marx
and robert chanson are both standing down at the forthcoming annual general meeting
each has served thirteen years as a director of plant health care plc and its predecessor
companies during which time they have each contributed a great deal to the development
of the company and its business
don a cofounder of plant health care provided us with a wealth of knowledge
experience and contacts after a highly successful and prestigious career with the usda
forestry service after a period as chief executive of the group he has since deployed his
skills as our chief scientist and as a member of the board although standing down from
the board don will continue as chief scientist and we look forward to his continued
contribution in that role
robert has made many contributions to the company in his role as nonexecutive director
before our aim listing he was instrumental in helping to secure investment in the company
and his wider business knowledge has enabled him to contribute greatly to the strategy of
the company
i would like to take this opportunity to thank both don and robert for their contributions to
the company and to the board over the past thirteen years
outlook plant health care’s ability to fulﬁl the need for higher yields on existing land has been
validated by the transactions with bayer cropscience and monsanto with our stable of
effective natural technologies we are extremely well positioned to offer further solutions to
help meet this global challenge and as such the macro environment remains favourable
as a consequence of our progress in 2007 and the positive global drivers for the business
the board looks forward to the coming year with conﬁdence i would like to thank all of the
plant health care team for their contribution to the success of our company and look
forward to working with them to achieve our shared goals
dr albert fischer
nonexecutive chairman
28 march 2008