Kiotech International PLC floated on AIM at 7p, June 2005. They are a provider of pheromone technologies in fish farming and commercial fishing. Kiotech focuses on developing products containing synthetic versions of pheromones (natural signaling chemicals) designed to attract and stimulate feeding in fish.

Kiotech Website: http://www.kiotech.com/

Kiotech Presentation: http://kiotech.com/two-col.php?pageName=presentation

In November 2006 KIO reversed into Agil, a division of Lawrence PLC for 5.25M plus 8,333,334 Ordinary Shares at the Placing Price of 3p. Agil generated a profit before interest and tax of 755,000 on sales of 5,235,000 for the 12 months to 31 March 2006.

KIO in partnership with the UK Government Agency CEFAS (the Centre for Environment, Fisheries & Aquaculture Science) and in collaboration with local aquaculture and fish institutes in China and Thailand, has been conducting large-scale trials at commercial aquaculture facilities.

These trials were set up, following successful laboratory results, to assess the efficacy of the Company's pheromone-based feeding attractants in full scale commercial situations.

The trials, which were carried out under the supervision of CEFAS, have now been completed and the results analysed by CEFAS. Initial results from these trials
have been very encouraging and the results are summarised below:-

Six month commercial trial, Tilapia* (Oreochromis niloticus), Zhouhai, China

The species Tilapia gained 17% more weight as compared to control
Accelerated rate of fish growth allowed harvesting of Tilapia 3 weeks early
Fish appeared healthier and better water quality
Secondary crop of White Shrimp (grown in same ponds) significantly higher with less disease
Overall the farmer received a 50% higher income from the pond treated with the Kiotech product, as compared to the control pond.

Tilapia, whilst relatively unknown in Europe, is commercially important in Asia and of increasing importance in USA. In 2005 1 million metric tonnes were farmed in China. (Source USDA: United States Department of Agriculture:)

Three month commercial trial, White Shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei), Tradt, Thailand

The White Shrimp were 30% larger on average than the control shrimp
Less feed was required probably due to increased feed take up by the shrimp resulting in lower food wastage.
Shrimp had a lower food conversion ratio (FCR) compared to the control

Conclusion

These results demonstrate the potential for very significant commercial benefits to the participating farmers operating in multi billion dollar global aquaculture market, as well as producing equally significant environmental benefits.

This gives us much encouragement to press on with the development of products
tailored to other commercially important species.

The strategy is to now to obtain full regulatory approval for these products and start commercial sales as soon as possible thereafter. We are discussing a joint venture agreement for production and distribution of our products in China, the largest market for the species covered by the trials. We aim to bring a product to the market by the middle of 2008 although it is possible that we may be able to achieve sales before this date.

Richard Rose, Chairman of Kiotech commented:

"These are very exciting results and demonstrate the effectiveness of our
pheromone-based technology. We can now commence work on commercialising these products which I am confident will have a significant effect on the
productivity, efficiency and sustainability of the world wide aquaculture industry"

Signficant Holdings

A large proportion of the shares in issue, 251,078,696, are held by Institutions, resulting in lack of liquidity but importantly significant SP movements on low volume.

Artemis VCT2 4.08%
F & C Asset Management 14.44%
First State Aim VCT 1.43%
J P Morgan Asset Management 1.41%
N C J Scott 0.95%
RBS British Smaller Co. Fund 1.43%
Unicorn Asset Management 13.28%
Williams de Broe 4.86%
ISIS EP LLP 13.28%
Wills & CO Stockbrokers 2.33%
City Equities Limited 3.98%
Invesco Perpetual Aim VCT 9.38%
AXA S.A. 7.49%

Total 78.34%

(Note: The nature of the holdings have been obtained from the 2006 Reverse Take-Over Admission Document and updated where information exists in the form of RNS notifications; however, some of the holdings are below the notifiable interest level and may no longer reflect the current situation).



Obviously early days for KIO, but the recent successful trials and impending commercialisation no later than next year makes this an interesting company with considerable potential in a huge market.

Hi ptholden.
You are most certainly, "not on your own". and Thank you for bringing this to our attention. I did no preparation, just read your informative post's. Just extracting the bones they make for compelling involvement, i.e. 300 people working for you & no wage bill, just pay them 6% of what is made from the proceeds, and the sole rights to all further patents till 2020! How did they negotiate that!! 78% Held by institution's who unlike me do do their homework. etc etc. Thanking you in anticipation. yk.

Hi York

Thanks for the reply. Not expecting a quick return on this one, the CEO himself has stated that commercial production should kick off in 2008, but possibly earlier. In the meantime KIO have AGIL's turnover and profitability to keep them ticking over. Mind you, having said that I am intrigued as to what caused the sudden 30% rise last week. I do wonder if KIO could be one of those undiscovered gems that suddenly burst into prominence? Time will tell :)

Not only is KIO developing products for the commercial fishing industry, but also the sports element. More than one string to their bow, or, err rod :)

Ultrabite, launched in 2001, is a pheromone based fishing product and is aimed at the global sports and leisure market. Sports fishing is a huge industry; it is estimated that in the UK alone there are over 3.5 million anglers and over 100 million worldwide. In order to maximize the sales potential of Ultrabite, in September 2005 we appointed Rapala VMC Corporation as Kiotechs exclusive worldwide distributor of Ultrabite to the sports fishing market. Rapala, which has its headquarters in Finland, is the leading distributor of sports fishing related products with a global network and is an ideal partner. The company had annual sales in 2005 of $235 million and sold products in 140 countries.

Try Googling Ultrabite, lots of companies selling this product and web sites also include what anglers think. Apparently it does work and it is a huge market, possibly the most popular sport in the UK.

Results

Made a relatively small loss but the Results include just one months (December) figures from the recent acquisition of Agil.

'The company is trading profitably and the current year has started
satisfactorily with a significantly strengthened balance sheet.

The exciting potential of Kiotech's fish attractant technology has been borne
out in our successful trials in China and Thailand. The results have generated
significant interest from Agil's network of distributors and from fish farmers
and the aquaculture industry.

We expect to make solid progress with Agil, by introducing new ideas and
products and establishing new territories. Agil is a sound, well-established
business and will play a key role in driving Kiotech's development and marketing
strategy'

The future looks encouraging.

pth

Ahoy there Cap'n Pete - good spot. Took a look but never picked any up - nice rise on results.

You thinking of converting your old tub to have a drag net off the back of it next time you set sail? I'm sure there's always room for diversification on your big rowing boat - all you can catch with a KIO gizmo hanging from the yardarm :)

Those matelots could do the gutting and filleting - give 'em someat to do to while away the hours - instead of drinking rum !!

Based on T/A all indicators suggest the clever boys jumped in @ 3.5p mid .......But looking at fundementals its seems a very astute buy,,,Rewards are potentially mindblowing ........What with such phenomenol institutional support a toe dip is called for methinks .......lndeed well spotted Mr, H.....@+ J ...

Prior to the acquisition of Agil, I think Kio would have really struggled to make an impact in the short to medium term whilst they attempted to bring their flagship fish attractant, 'Aquatice' to the market. I imagine they would have had to keep returning to the market for additional funds and as an investment it would have taken some considerable time to see a decent return. Agil have changed all that. A well established company, generating a reasonable turnover and adding profitability to the balance sheet. Reading the Results, must say I am quite excited about their future.

pth

mg

You offering yourself as bait then?

indeed with new aquisition providing the vital key to global markets and with sales doubling you cant find room to knock it

Nice little rise this morning. Just goes to show how tightly held this stock is, small volumes shifts it along nicely. The first 75000 trade was a buy not a sell, although someone had to sell in the first place ;)

pth

think i'll stick to fish that does not need Viagra equivalent!

You always know fish are around when there's a rise :P

offering at 5.25p at mo, ie mid point of spread, heard that was not a good sign when i topped up with CHP buying at 12.25 (which was midpoint at the time), which proved to be good advice... hmmmm

no problem buying 100k at that price...

That's a fair point Ted; certainly 10 days ago it was impossible to buy more than 10,000, so it it would appear someone has offloaded some stock. But to be honest, this is a long term hold for me, so daily trades hold just a little interest to judge short term sentiment, but no more than that.

pth

yes this is one of those interestingly boring stocks... lol
hopefully a nice growth story... although i don't have any (yet)

Nice 11% rise today, don't know if any of you guys have been buying over the last two days, but the SP is certainly looking perky :)

l now hold quite a few actually... ...What with a mere 22% of issued shares being up for grabs as a consequence of institutional positions , l see some volatility on light volume here which will reward initially trader and then investor alike ..@+ J

Hmm, wonder why 4 small trades dropped the price nearly 13%, either someone offloading and trade yet to be reported or a bit of a shake perhaps, not that I believe in shakes of course :)

Steady progress the order of the day:

Kiotech International plc, the supplier of high performance natural feed
additives to the aquaculture and agriculture markets, is holding its AGM later
today, at which Richard Rose, Chairman, will make the following statement.

`We are pleased with the progress management is making bedding in the Agil
acquisition and also focusing on improving the gross margin and developing new
products and territories. Agil has recently taken its first order in Sri Lanka
for Salkil (poultry feed additive which reduces likelihood of salmonella and
E.coli) and its Bactacid product (Salkil equivalent for pigs) has been well
received in the Ukraine - a new territory which we believe has good potential.

We are in the final stages of agreeing a joint venture in China, with Kiotech as
the majority shareholder; this should help with the process of registering
Aquatice (chemosensory stimulant for fish feeding) in that country. We have
received considerable international interest in Aquatice from the aquaculture
industry and are taking steps to work with some of these parties to progress the
commercial development of the product.'