Pre-tax profits and share-based payments were £494,191 compared with a loss of £287,268 seen in 2006. Sales represented £5,352,224, and reflected the first twelve months trading contribution from the Agil-based portfolio.

The integration of Agil business is now complete and this has benefitted profitability and a raft of new products are undergoing farm trials and showing promising results, says the company.

Well placed

Richard Rose, Chairman of Kiotech said that the Company has a strong balance sheet, significant resources and is well placed to finance major product and market development programmes.

"Product and sales development in Agil, combined with exciting developments in establishing our aquaculture range, offer the Company a significant number of profit opportunities which the team is working hard to capitalise on,” he added.

In his end of year statement he said that Kiotechagil's encouraging performance reflects good progress in the divisions supplying high-performance natural feed additives to enhance health, growth and sustainability in aquaculture and agriculture. Agil's has a firm focus on increasing profitability through better supply, tighter cost control and raising management quality and efficiency. A new management structure was introduced in the second half of the year to place more emphasis on new product development and more effective management of our distributor network.

"We have changed distributors in a number of territories and appointed distributors in new territories where registration of our products is currently underway," he said.

The company reorganised its sales structure in the UK and Ireland we where there are good opportunities for an enlarged technical sales support team. The stronger account management process, implemented in the first half of the year, will gain a better understanding of distributors requirements worldwide and the individual characteristics of their diverse local markets.

Livestock Developments

Agil's technical team has developed a new premix acidifier targeted at the early growth stage for pigs and poultry. The development has opened a new market segment for the company and early indications have been encouraging with improvements in feed conversion and the health of the animals.

The company also reports increased demand for Mastercube its animal feed pellet binder. As feed producers switch to lower quality grains to counter rising prices this has adversely affected pellet quality. Mastercube counters this quality issue and through its chemical binding attributes helps lower the amount of energy consumed in pellet production.

The company continues to expand in the aquaculture sector. Approval has been granted by Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) for sale of aquaculture products (Aquatice®) in the European Union. The nutritional attractant continues to prove its efficacy in new trials in the Far East and the DEFRA Certificate should accelerate the registration process in other countries. The feed additive stimulates growth rate and feed conversion, and has been shown to improve water quality and aid survival rates in young fish.