Plant Health Care, which has signed up the likes of Monsanto and Syngenta as partners for its alternative agrichemicals, revealed talks over a fresh wave of tie-ups as it unveiled a halving in half-year losses.

Plant Health flagged a "high level of interest in partnering opportunities" for its products, which aim to enhance a plant's own capabilities to see off pests or take up nutrients.

"Advanced discussions are ongoing with a number of global agrichemical, seed distribution and fertilizer companies," John Brady, the group's chief executive, said.

'Long-running talks'

Further tie-ups would add to a roster which already include a deal with US seeds giant Monsanto to commercialise the harpin plant-defence product.

This deal suffered teething troubles last year when slower-than-expected Monsanto seed sales fostered a build in harpin stocks, although Dominik Koechlin, the Plant Health chairman, said this "excess inventory… has now been reduced".

With Syngenta, Plant Health is developing the use of harpin with glyphosate, a generalist weedkiller, while the product is being researched as a sugar beet seed treatment by Germains.

"The pipeline of partnering opportunities with major agrichemical and seed companies in the US, Europe, Africa and Asia continues to develop," Dr Koechlin said

"Long-running talks with a number of… large industrial players have now reached an advanced stage."

Loss narrows 

The comments came as the group unveiled a loss of $1.74m for the first six months of the year, down from $4.68m a year before, on revenues up 23% at $3.52m.

And the group said that margins, which allowed gross profit to increase by 24% to $1.84m, "will be maintained" at current levels.

"With continued growth in product sales, and the benefit of cost savings already implemented, [we] are confident of meeting market expectations for the full year," Dr Koechlin said.

'Something of a hiatus'

Nonetheless, Plant Health shares remained unmoved in lunchtime trade in London, standing at 52.1p.

The results had "no surprises" in the profit and loss accounts, while cash levels stood "at a healthy $16.8m, underlying cash burn at $4m-5m a year", Philip Sparks, at London broker Evolution, said.

He also highlighted that Plant Health's sales growth had come from direct sales rather than from its partnerships, which are largely still in stages too early to trigger significant payouts.

"Plant Health Care is in something of a hiatus at the moment, with its revenue line seeing no contribution from either its major licenses with Monsanto and Syngenta," Mr Sparks said.

"Shipments of harpin to Monsanto's supply chain should restart in 2012 after the excess inventory built up in 2009-10 is sold off, and revenues from the first Syngenta products should follow a year or two after that."

This year looked set to be "a year of quiet progress", he added.