YPB Group March quarter highlighted by rise in cash receipts and first MotifMicro revenues

YPB Group (ASX:YPB) improved its cashflow position during the March quarter whilst also securing the first revenue from its revolutionary authentication technology MotifMicroTM. The company recorded a 34% rise in cash receipts compared with the 2020 quarterly average and reduced its cash burn by 36% compared with the December quarter. As previously reported by Proactive, YPB secured its first revenues for MotifMicro, in the hugely lucrative US sneakers market. Job not done yet YPB CEO John Houston said shareholders could be pleased with the company’s performance in the March quarter, knowing it was working on further measures to unlock value. “The financial improvement recorded in the quarter was pleasing but we remain determined to make the company self-funding as soon as possible,” he said. “While our commercial progress during Q1 was undoubtedly still impeded by COVID-19 lockdowns in all our geographies, we recorded clear improvement in sales and our pipeline is increasingly prospective. “Most significant, however, was the progress made that now sees MotifMicro entering its final development leg on schedule – this is tremendously important due to the size of the opportunity. “It has led to engagement with new prospects who are potentially highly valuable, prestigious customers of YPB. “I commend our team for their achievements and am excited that our breakthrough technology is making breakthrough commercial success for YPB increasingly tangible.” Quarterly achievements MotifMicro had major technical improvements throughout the quarter and a controlled pilot release to select customers is now imminent, with broad commercial release expected in the second half of the year. This is YPB’s forensic smartphone-based authentication solution for mass-market consumer products, but it is not the only future-forward product in YPB’s pocket. YPB has also invented a novel ‘evaporating tracer’ that can identify the presence of disinfectant on a surface for five hours after application. The disappearance of the tracer allows a user to confirm that a surface has been disinfected within a fixed time period and easily indicates the need to re-apply disinfectant after the elapse of that time, catering to a COVID-19 world and a global antiseptics and disinfectants market that is expected to reach US$105 billion by 2028. YPB also worked on its Connect platform, which, when combined with the smartphone authentication solutions, creates ‘smart’ product packaging, opening cost-effective, digital and direct marketing channels between brands and their consumers. This work resulted in greater efficiency of resource use reducing operational hosting costs by 40% but more importantly creating a vastly more scalable product. Advanced analytics were also added to Connect in the quarter increasing the granularity of information from a consumer’s mobile scan anywhere in the world available to brand managers. YPB Group was awarded seven new SKUs under the Nature One Dairy and Nature’s Care MSAs, bringing the number of products covered from these customers to 47. - Daniel Paproth