c-LEcta: Financial Figures for 2018 Underscore Successful Transformation into a Product Company

• Transformation into a product company further advanced
• Higher diversification of product portfolio achieved
• 70% growth in sales of own products
• Investments in organizational development and staff expansion to
  accommodate growth in the product area
• Further expansion of the product business and more investments in
  growth planned

LEIPZIG, Germany–(BUSINESS WIRE)–#biotech—c-LEcta, a globally operating biotechnology company with technology
leadership in the fields of enzyme engineering and bioprocess
development, has successfully developed its business model into an
international product company in fiscal year 2018. The focus was on
products for regulated markets such as the food and pharmaceutical
industries. Total sales in fiscal 2018 amounted to EUR 4.5 million.

Sales of in-house developed products increased by more than 70% in
fiscal year 2018. This accounted for around two thirds of the company’s
revenues. In the product business, c-LEcta manufactures and markets its
own biotechnological products. At present, the focus here is on enzyme
products that make industrial food and pharmaceutical production more
efficient as processing aids. In the future, biotechnologically produced
and finished ingredients for applications in the food and cosmetics
sectors will also be added as products. The project business is the
second source of sales. Here, c-LEcta works in strategic partnership
with leading companies from the food and pharmaceutical industries, for
example, on the development, commercialization and marketing of jointly
developed products. As planned, the share of project business fell to
around one third of total sales in fiscal 2018. In the course of this
development, c-LEcta was able to further diversify its own product
portfolio and achieved around 70% of product sales with three different
products. In fiscal year 2017 a single, highly successful product was
still responsible for this share of sales. As a result, c-LEcta is more
independent of individual products and gains greater sales stability for
the coming years. In addition, the company laid the foundation for
further growth in the dynamic market for food ingredients. More than two
thirds of sales in fiscal year 2018 were already generated in this area.
The remainder of sales came mainly from products for the pharmaceutical
market.

“In the past fiscal year, we focused on developing c-LEcta into a
product company. Our rapidly growing product business gives us access to
new customers. We are convinced that our core market for food
ingredients still offers great potential for our unique biotechnology
solutions. With the transformation of our company strategy, we have laid
the foundation to realize this potential,” said Marc Struhalla, founder
and CEO of c-LEcta.

In fiscal year 2018, c-LEcta invested in personnel expansion, in
particular. Thus, the company laid the foundation stone to suit its
increased activities in marketing its own products and further growth.
At the end of 2018, 63 employees were working for c-LEcta, eight more
than at the end of the previous year. The site area was expanded by
around 800 m² to a total area of 3,100 m². The
company also invested in property, plant and equipment for research and
development and in production facilities.

“The past fiscal year was marked by many positive changes. As an
innovative company with customers from 25 countries on four continents,
we have a broad international base. The investments we made have also
helped us to diversify our products. The financial resources from the
last successful round of financing give us the freedom to push ahead
with our growth strategy in the current fiscal year,” explains Thomas
Pfaadt, CFO of c-LEcta.

For the current fiscal year, the management expects further expansion of
the product business and plans more investments in growth.

About c-LEcta

c-LEcta is a world-leading biotechnology company with a focus on enzyme
engineering and application in regulated markets like the food and
pharma industries. The company is based in Leipzig, Germany, and has
established itself as a leading player in the realization of high-value
biotech products, either in the form of in-house developments or in
close cooperation with industry. The company currently employs more than
60 people.

c-LEcta delivers cost-efficient and sustainable production processes
which open new markets and allow for better penetration of existing
markets. The company is characterized by fast and efficient development
of best-in-class biotech solutions and a rapid and successful market
introduction and commercialization of the resulting products. This
enables c-LEcta to leverage the unique potential of its core
technologies. c-LEcta has a proven track record of more than ten
successfully commercialized high-value industrial biotech products.

Contacts

cometis AG
Maximilian Franz
Phone: +49 (0) 611 – 205855 – 22
Fax:
+49 (0) 611 – 205855 – 66
e-mail: [email protected]