Second Quarter and Half Year results for the six months ended 31 March 2024

22 May 2024 08:00 CEST

Positive quarterly momentum maintained and well on track to meet full year
management’s expectations

Benchmark (LSE: BMK), the aquaculture biotechnology company, announces its
unaudited interim results for the six months ended 31 March 2024 (the “Period”
or “H1 FY24”). The Company also announces its unaudited results for the three
months ended 31 March 2024 (“Q2 FY24”) in compliance with the terms of its
unsecured Green bond.
Financial Highlights
• Q2 FY24 positive momentum in Genetics and Advanced Nutrition partially offset
by Health and forex headwinds
o Q2 FY24 revenues of £39.8m were 10% below Q2 FY23 (-3% CER) driven by a strong
performance in Genetics and Advanced Nutrition, offset by Health
 Genetics revenues were £13.2m (Q2 FY23: £12.9m) up 7% CER reflecting a solid
performance in the core business and good progress in our growth vectors,
particularly Chile
 Advanced Nutrition revenues were £21.1m (Q2 FY23: £22.6m) up 3% CER reflecting
the success of our strategy to adapt to difficult shrimp markets
 Health revenues of £5.4m (Q2 FY23: £8.7m) were down 35% CER; focus remains on
transition to new business model for Ectosan®Vet and CleanTreat®
o 9% CER increase in Adjusted EBITDA excluding fair value movement in biological
assets to £9.9m (Q2 FY23: £9.9m)
o Adjusted EBITDA margin excluding fair value movement in biological assets of
25% (Q2 FY23: 22%) in line with the Group’s medium-term target
 Genetics Adjusted EBITDA excluding fair value movement of £3.1m was 42% above
Q2 FY23 (+50% CER) due to higher profit from the Genetics joint venture and
higher egg revenues. The Adjusted EBITDA excluding fair value movement margin
was 24% (Q2 FY23: 17%)
 Advanced Nutrition Adjusted EBITDA of £5.3m was down 14% (-3% CER) with
effective cost control offsetting reduced revenue. The Adjusted EBITDA margin
was 25%; (Q2 FY23: 27%)
 Health Adjusted EBITDA of £1.6m (Q2 FY23: £2.6m) and Adjusted EBITDA margin of
30% reflecting efforts to manage costs (Q2 FY23: 30%)
o Adjusted operating profit excluding fair value movements was £5.9m, 24% above
the prior year
o Operating profit was marginally below the prior year at £0.6m (Q2 FY23: £0.7m)
o Increase in net operating cash inflow to £3.6m (Q2 FY23: £1.4m)
• H1 FY24 results underpinned by strong Q2 performance, supporting positive
outlook for the full year
o H1 FY24 revenues of £80.2m were 19% below a strong H1 FY23 (-12% CER) which
benefited from supply constraints in the salmon egg market
 Genetics revenues were £28.4m (H1 FY23: £34.3m) down 11% CER reflecting a
normalised level against H1 FY23 which benefitted from supply constraints in the
salmon egg market
 Advanced Nutrition revenues were £40.4m (H1 FY23: £45.3m), down 2% CER
representing a strong performance in challenging shrimp markets
 Health revenues of £11.5m (H1 FY23: £19.1m) were down 37% CER; reduced
Ectosan®Vet and CleanTreat® capacity in the period as we transition to a new
business model
o Adjusted EBITDA excluding fair value movement in biological assets was £17.3m,
23% below a strong H1 FY23 (-15% CER)
o Group operating costs in H1 FY24 were £20.4m, 14% below H1 FY23 with a
reduction across all business areas despite a high inflation environment
o Adjusted EBITDA margin excluding fair value movement in biological assets was
22% (H1 FY23: 23%) with strong margins in Advanced Nutrition (24%) and Genetics
(23%) offset by Health (19%)
o Operating loss was £3.7m (H1 FY23: profit of £1.0m) primarily due to lower
revenues in the period offset by continued cost control

• Cash, liquidity and net debt:
o Cash of £24.1m and liquidity (cash and available facility) of £41.3m at 20 May
2024
o Net debt excluding lease liabilities of £56.8m at 31 March 2024 (31 March
2023: £44.5m,
30 September 2023: £45.6m)
H1 FY24 Operational Highlights
• Genetics – wide ranging progress
o Excellent progress in Chile with new customer wins, establishing foundation
for future growth
o Launch of a new product portfolio in salmon genetics aligned with our strategy
to invest in R&D to further enhance our customer value proposition and our
competitive position
o Successful launch of genotyping product portfolio; contracted customer
projects commenced
o Successful integration of shrimp activities with Advanced Nutrition generating
commercial opportunities while we continue the work to develop local adapted
strains
o Significant progress in key innovation areas - complex gill disease project
bolstered by a new partnership funded by the Biotechnology and Biological
Sciences Research Council in the UK

• Advanced Nutrition – well positioned for recovery
o The strategy and mitigating actions taken by management in response to
challenging shrimp markets including the continuous development of our product
portfolio, the establishment of new routes to market and the implementation of
operational efficiencies are delivering positive results
o Green shoots of recovery in the shrimp market translating into demand for the
Group’s hatchery portfolio as the industry prepares to increase production
o Well positioned for market recovery

• Health – progress with development of new business model
o Further progress made towards development of new business model for Ectosan®
Vet and CleanTreat® aimed at reducing infrastructure costs. Design of the
wellboat configuration completed in partnership with wellboat equipment provider
MMC and wellboat designer SALT
o Existing infrastructure being streamlined, rightsizing it for the new business
model
o Strong sales of Salmosan® Vet reflecting successful lifecycle management and
strength of the Group’s sea lice solution portfolio 
Current trading and outlook
The Company is trading in line with management’s expectations for the full year.
There is good visibility of revenue in Genetics including excellent progress in
Chile, and there have been no operational or financial consequences from the
infectious salmon anaemia (ISA) incident reported in February this year. In
Advanced Nutrition, there is continuing strong performance in soft markets
albeit with some green shoots and the business is well positioned for market
recovery. In Health, our focus remains on the transition to the new business
model for Ectosan® Vet and CleanTreat®. We will continue to manage costs and
reduce our capital exposure, taking the second CleanTreat® unit out ahead of the
low season for sea lice treatments. Our established sea lice treatment
Salmosan® Vet is performing well into the second half of the year.
Strategic review
In January 2024, the Company announced that the Board had unanimously decided to
undertake a formal review of the Company’s strategic options including a
potential formal sale process. This process remains ongoing and further updates
will be provided as appropriate.

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619324_2024 Interims RNS final combined clean.pdf
619324_Presentation Q2 final.pdf