13th Sep 2005 12:15
3DM Worldwide PLC13 September 2005 Press Release 13 September 2005 3DM Worldwide plc ("3DM" or "the Company") AGM Statement 3DM Worldwide plc (AIM:TDM.L), which has developed and is now exploiting apatented plastic polymer moulding process, today held its Annual General Meetingin Bedwas, Caerphilly, South Wales. All resolutions before the meeting wereduly passed. After the conclusion of business at the AGM, Ken Brooks, Executive Chairman of3DM Worldwide plc, made the following statement to Shareholders: "2005 has seen the completion of the mechanical installation of the alpha linehere in Bedwas and also the completion of the fast line by our Americancolleagues. With the additional machinery we have developed here and in the USAand the further projects we have in that field, I am confident that we have nowcompleted the move from the laboratory research and development phase for thePIM process to mechanical and industrial activity. "But before discussing some product developments, I wish to say something aboutthe Board and operational management. At last year's AGM I said we intended tostrengthen the executive Board and operational team. As you can see from theoperations here that has been done. We now have an excellent team at Bedwas andcan now offer a range of services to end licensees including engineering,material utilsation, drawing and development resource. The last part of theexecutive structure was to bring in a new COO of our operating subsidiary 3DMGroup Limited. We announced the appointment of Niall Mackay to that position inour interim statement dated 30 August 2005 and I would like to welcome Niall whois here today. "We did say that once the executive team was in place we intended to strengthenthe non-executive side. To that end I can now confirm that 3DM director BillWidger has moved from an executive to a non-executive role. We have beenactively interviewing candidates for an additional non-executive Board positionwhere I am pleased to say that we have a number of excellent candidates keen tojoin us. We hope to finalise the necessary appointments over the course of thenext few months. "On the commercial front we have recruited Paul Markgraf as our UK and EuropeanBusiness Development Manager and Simon Baden as our Far Eastern BusinessDevelopment Manager. These appointments were driven by the need to manage thesignificant interest we have from various parts of the world. "As announced in the interim statement, Peter Aylmore has relinquished hisresponsibility for day to day operations at 3DM Group Limited to become ourHead of Special Projects enabling him to concentrate on product development,machinery procurement and material supply. We do expect there to be morerecruitment of staff but the key objectives we set ourselves last year have beenmet. "The alpha and beta machines are now both here at Bedwas. Our intention is toconcentrate our corporate activities onto a single site, including research anddevelopment work that is currently being undertaken in our Trowbridge facility,that we expect to close this year. Some of the work will however continue to beout-sourced. "On the project side, it is important always to appreciate that we are in adeveloping field using brand new technology which means that we are oftenpresented opportunities to create and protect intellectual property. In manycases, we are unable to give many details in order to protect the intellectualproperty under development or where we have signed CDAs with our partners. Inthe Question and Answer session to follow, where we are able to do so, mycolleagues and I would be pleased to answer any questions that you might have.To save some time I am now going to say a few words on some of the PIM relatedprojects that we have announced or mentioned before. "Beginning with the USA where the PIM process originated: Ford "The encapsulated cross member has passed the collision test and the short termcorrosion test and the longer corrosion test is nearing its completion. Anumber of other magnesium encapsulated projects are at various stages with Fordand the signs are positive. Silkwood "Silkwood's partners have amassed land banks in Texas and Mexico. A jointventure has been signed with Royal Building Solutions. The planning consentshave been obtained for partial development in both areas. Initial constructionwill be underway soon and sample houses are being built in Michigan. "Silkwood had previously made presentations with Royal Building Solutions fordisaster relief projects where the outcome is still awaited. Silkwood believesthat the rebuilding work following the tragic devastation caused by HurricaneKatrina will create a requirement for modular housing using the 3DM process. Inthis regard, Silkwood has been approached by a construction company in Louisianato quote for the rebuilding of an initial 1000 homes. Other projects "Work continues on the Daimler Chrysler Dakota truck bed development project.A number of other automotive projects are still progressing and productsincluding for the building, military and aviation industry are currently underdevelopment by our partner in the USA, VPT. UK Highseas "The Highseas activities have been disappointing in that Highseas chose to takeon the most difficult and ambitious task first, namely, the construction of a 60foot boat. However, new management has been introduced which intends to focuson smaller products. We are currently in negotiation, at their request, to widentheir current licence to include more PIM related products. Highseas' proposedAIM flotation has been postponed for the time being. Kingspan "There are a number of product lines currently under development and evaluationwith Kingspan who are keen to broaden their environmentally friendly portfoliowhere the PIM process offers them excellent opportunities. Other projects "3DM has received instructions from The rollet(R) Company Limited of ManchesterEngland to manufacture a mould to be used on the new alpha line for its newmodel plastic roll cage, utilising post consumer waste.We believe that there areexcellent opportunities to expand our relationship with Rollet. We have had anumber of other projects put to us where work is required to be done on themechanical side, with drawing and design, and on the material design side. Scandinavia "Following the signing of the licence agreement announced on 26 May 2005 andpayment of the first year's licence fee of US$250,000, the Chairman of 3DMNordic was severely injured in an accident which has slowed progress. I ampleased to report that he is expected to return to work by the end of this monthfollowing which development work will re-commence in earnest. Other European projects "A number of projects have been put to the Company ranging from aircraft,military and automotive applications. There are a number of parties in theBaltics who are negotiating with 3DM Worldwide for production licences and whoare seeking to purchase the necessary machinery. It is also worth saying herethat 3DM has been asked to join in the project to develop and manufacture a zeroemission plastic car designed by Philippe Starck. In Cyprus, the proposedmanufacture of Varelplast tanks and drums necessitates a deeper drawer machinethan the equipment you see here and we are working on a project now for adeeper-drawer. The materials handling licence is progressing well with thepallet designs and engineering drawings complete. Rest of World "We have had interest from all over the world including Brazil, the Gulf States,Russia and also several countries in the Far East, including India, China andJapan. The PIM process would fit well in these regions and again we havesignificant interest from multiple sources. "Elsewhere, the 'Horn of Africa' project based in Somalia is progressing welland our licensee has ordered tooling from VPT and Miguel Linares at VPT hasdesigned a specific house which is the subject of a new patent application. "Our other African project in Tanzania is being run from the UK and we areawaiting confirmation on the timing of the grant aid promised to our licensee. Summary "The large number of opportunities that are being presented to us means that wehave to be selective in what we pursue. Our ongoing strategy aims to targethigh volume and high value products which we believe, in the longer term, willcreate greater shareholder value. We have successfully established strongrelationships and have development projects in all our key target markets, whichmakes us confident about the Company's future." - Ends - For further information: 3DM Worldwide PLC Ken Brooks, Chairman Tel: +44 (0) 1993 779 [email protected] www.3dmworldwide.com Media enquiries: Abchurch Henry Harrison-Topham / Ariane Comstive Tel: +44 (0) 20 7398 [email protected] www.abchurch-group.com This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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