Spinnova Plc’s half-year report January-June 2021 (Unaudited) – Strong joint ventures and successful IPO provide springboard for growth and scaleup
January to June 2021
- Revenue grew to EUR 370 thousand (EUR 87 thousand).
- Operating loss for the period was EUR 3 093 thousand (EUR 1 993 thousand)
- Total investments were EUR 2 949 thousand (EUR 2 287 thousand).
- The number of permanent employees at the end of the period grew to 49 (28).
Significant events during H1 / 2021
- Spinnova announced a 50/50 joint venture with Suzano called Woodspin Oy, where Spinnova will be the exclusive technology provider, and started building the first commercial SPINNOVA® factory in Finland.
- Spinnova and Suzano announced Woodspin’s scaling ambition to more than 1 million tonnes of SPINNOVA® fibre annual production capacity by 2031.
- Spinnova selected Valmet, a global leader in pulp and paper technology, to supply a drying component for the first Woodspin SPINNOVA® production line.
- Spinnova announced a 50/50 joint venture with ECCO’s trading company KT Innovations called Respin Oy, where Spinnova will be the exclusive technology provider, and started building a proof-of-concept production line for leather waste-based fibre in Finland.
- It was agreed that Spinnova will charge a total of EUR 2.5 million for its services and technology to Respin over the course of the proof-of-concept phase.
- Spinnova carried out a successful initial public offering that raised EUR 115 million, thereby securing the core capital requirement for its growth plan. Trading in Spinnova’s shares (SPINN) started on the Nasdaq Helsinki First North Growth Market on 24 June.
- adidas and the H&M Group joined the group of Spinnova’s brand partners.
- Spinnova appointed Ben Selby as Chief Financial Officer and member of the management team. Former Chief Financial Officer Petri Poranen was appointed Chief Operating Officer.
- Harri Sundvik and Vinicius Nonino were appointed as Members of the Board of Directors.
Spinnova Plc’s key figures
| EUR Thousand | 1-6/2021 | 1-6/2020 | 1-12/2020 |
| Revenue | 370 | 87 | 254 |
| Operating profit / loss | -3 093 | -1 993 | -5 473 |
| Earnings per share (EUR, diluted and undiluted) 1) | -0.30 | -0.06 | -0.17 |
| Net debt | -98 354 | -3 010 | -1 372 |
| Equity ratio, % | 90% | 61% | 54% |
| Number of permanent employees at the end of the period | 49 | 28 | 40 |
| Number of permanent employees, average | 43 | 26 | 34 |
1) The company’s potential dilutive instruments consist of stock options. As the company’s business has been unprofitable, stock options would have an anti-dilutive effect and therefore they are not taken into account in measuring the dilutive loss per share. Thus, there is no difference between the undiluted and diluted loss per share. The number of shares in the historical figures is adjusted with the two share splits that took place first in May 2020 in which the number of shares was multiplied by 10 and then in May 2021 in which the number of shares was multiplied by 30.
CEO’s Review – Janne Poranen:
In the first half of 2021, Spinnova reached the most important milestones of its journey so far. Spinnova started building the first commercial factory for Woodspin, the joint venture that we own 50/50 with our strategic partner Suzano, and we jointly agreed the plan to ensure commercial scaling of SPINNOVA® wood-based fibre. We started building a proof-of-concept production line for leather waste-based fibre for Respin, the joint venture that Spinnova owns 50/50 with ECCO’s sister company KT Innovations AG. In June, we met the key capital requirement for our growth plan by listing Spinnova on the Nasdaq Helsinki First North Growth Market.
Brand partnerships developed favourably
In the first half of 2021, we were proud to announce that both adidas and the H&M Group joined our brand partners. Innovative product development also continued with other brand partners including Bergans, Bestseller, ECCO, Icebreaker and Marimekko, paving the way to a joint commercial future. With adidas’ cornerstone investment in Spinnova’s initial public offering, adidas intends to secure access to significant volumes of SPINNOVA® material in the future. Our partner ECCO showed its strong support for us by investing in Spinnova shares in our initial public offering.
After the reporting period, we were proud to announce our collaboration with The North Face, with the goal of commercializing sustainable products using SPINNOVA® materials and securing access to the first commercial volumes of the fibre.
Suzano committed to Woodspin scaleup
The wood-based SPINNOVA® fibre and the value-added products made of it, such as fabrics, are now our priority. Spinnova began construction work for the first Woodspin commercial factory in Jyväskylä, Central Finland during the reporting period.
The factory is expected to be completed at the end of 2022. Spinnova is the exclusive technology provider for Woodspin as well as Respin. In the spring, we agreed on a co-operation with Valmet, a global leader in pulp and paper technology, who will provide drying components for the first Woodspin production line.
Suzano supports our scaling plans and has committed to the Woodspin joint venture producing more than one million tonnes of SPINNOVA® fibre per year within a decade. Suzano is investing in a micro fibrillated cellulose production facility next to the Woodspin factory in Jyväskylä. Spinnova is a strategically important new business investment and collaboration for Suzano.
IPO proceeds support growth plan
We raised 115 million euros through our successful initial public offering in June with approximately 20 000 investors participating. Spinnova’s key long-term partners Suzano and Lenzing continued as significant shareholders and, in addition to numerous private and institutional investors, Spinnova’s strategic partners adidas and ECCO joined Spinnova as shareholders. This IPO financing plays an important part in securing our growth plan.
The execution of our strategy is proceeding well. With demand from world class brands and with strategic partners for both raw material supply and industrial scaling, we now have the building blocks in place to execute our strategy and complete our commercialisation and production scaleup plans.
Significant events after the period
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In August, Shahriare Mahmood was appointed as Chief Sustainability Officer and member of the management team.
- In August, Spinnova and The North Face announced they have signed a product development agreement.
Half-year report webcast
Spinnova arranges a half-year webcast event on Thursday, 16 September at 1.15 pm EET, where Spinnova’s CEO and co-founder Janne Poranen and CFO Ben Selby will comment on the company’s January-June events and financial performance from the Jyväskylä factory. In addition, there will be a guest speaker from Suzano.
A recording of the event will be available on the investor website shortly after. The event is open to all investors and media representatives.
A registration is required and can be done at:
https://spinnova.videosync.fi/2013-02-01-spinnovainterimreport
The half-year report is available in full as an attachment of this release and on the company's investor website at https://spinnovagroup.com.
Spinnova’s next financial disclosure
Spinnova will publish its Financial statement bulletin for 1 January – 31 December, 2021 on Thursday, 24 February, 2022.