MeaTech 3D Reports 2021 Financial Results and Provides Business Update

Rhea-AI Summary

MeaTech 3D Ltd. (Nasdaq: MITC) reported its 2021 financial results, revealing an operating loss of $17.2 million and a net loss of $17.8 million or $0.16 per share. Research and development (R&D) expenses significantly increased to $7.6 million. However, the company’s cash and equivalents rose to $19.2 million, up from $13.6 million in 2020. Recent achievements include acquiring Peace of Meat and plans to expand operations in Belgium and the US.

Positive

• Improved cash position with $19.2 million in cash and equivalents at year-end 2021.
• Acquisition of Peace of Meat enhances product offerings and technology diversification.
• Promising advancements in muscle stem cell differentiation technology with a provisional patent application filed.
• Expansion plans into the US market to accelerate growth.

Negative

• R&D expenses surged to $7.6 million, indicating increased spending without immediate returns.
• Operating loss of $17.2 million raises concerns about financial sustainability.
• Cash flow used in operating activities increased significantly to $14.2 million.

REHOVOT, Israel, March 24, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- MeaTech 3D Ltd. (Nasdaq: MITC) ("MeaTech") announced today its financial results for 2021. The company is also providing an update to investors on recent business developments. MeaTech is an international deep-tech food company at the forefront of the cultured meat industry. The company is using science and technology to develop high-quality delicious and nutritious real meat products that are cell-based, slaughter free and safer than farm-raised meat.

 

 

2021 Financial Results Summary

• R&D expenses totaled $7.6 million, compared to $2.5 million in 2020, reflecting an expansion of investment in MeaTech's research and development capabilities
  
  
• Operating loss reached $17.2 million, compared to $18.5 million in 2020 (including $10.1 million in public listing expenses in connection with MeaTech's reverse merger into a TASE-listed company)
  
  
• Net loss was $17.8 million, or $0.16 per ordinary share, compared to $18.1 million, or $0.31 per ordinary share, in 2020 
  
  
• Cash flow used in operating activities was $14.2 million, compared to $3.8 million used in 2020
  
  
• Cash and equivalents at year-end 2021, was $19.2 million, compared to $13.6 million at year-end 2020
  
  
• Non-current assets increased to $18.5 million as of year-end 2021, up from $3.6 million at year-end 2020, driven mainly by the initial consolidation of the financial results of Peace of Meat
  
  
• Total assets increased to $40.7 million as of year-end 2021, up from $17.5 million at year-end 2020
  
  
• Total capital reached $37.6 million as of year-end 2021, up from $15.6 million at year-end 2020

Arik Kaufman, MeaTech's Chief Executive Officer: "2021 marked a major turning point for MeaTech as we continue our quest to be positioned as the leaders in the cultured meat space. With our acquisition of Peace of Meat, our Belgian subsidiary, and the establishment of MeaTech Europe, we created a broad base of business with an infrastructure for offering cultured fat biomass as an ingredient to improve the taste and texture of alternative meat products. Throughout last year and into the beginning of this year, we made groundbreaking progress with our technological capabilities, which culminated in the world's largest ever 3D-printed cultivated steak and promising results with our muscle stem cell differentiation. Looking ahead, we will be expanding the company's operations. A memorandum of understanding has been signed for the establishment of a pilot plant in Belgium to accelerate the production of cultured chicken fat, and we are also, in the process of expanding to the US to advance our cellular technology."

Business highlights and developments during 2021 and to date:

• Acquisition of Peace of Meat: In February 2021, MeaTech finalized its acquisition of Peace of Meat, a Belgian producer of cultured avian products, for up to $19.9 million in cash and equity, depending on milestone achievements. MeaTech intends to leverage Peace of Meat's cultured avian technologies to diversify its own bovine-oriented technologies and expedite its entry into the market for plant-based meat alternatives and cultured products.
  
  
• $28 million Nasdaq listing and voluntary delisting from the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange: In March 2021, MeaTech raised $28 million in an initial public offering of American Depository Shares (ADSs) on the Nasdaq Capital Market, making MeaTech the first cultured meat company to be publicly traded in the US. In August 2021, MeaTech completed the process of voluntarily delisting its ordinary shares from the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) with its ADSs continuing to trade on the Nasdaq Capital Market. The decision was made to internationalize MeaTech's investor and public relations efforts into the United States and globally.
  
  
• Initiation of food technology development activities in Europe: In April 2021, MeaTech commenced food technology development activities through its European subsidiary, MeaTech Europe, with an initial focus on hybrid foods using Peace of Meat's cultured fat. Hybrid foods are products composed of both plant and cultured meat ingredients that have the potential to offer a meatier experience than purely plant-based meat alternatives.
  
  
• Manufacturing of 700g (25 oz) of cultivated fat biomass: In July 2021, MeaTech's
  fully-owned Belgian subsidiary, Peace of Meat Peace, cultivated just over 700 grams of pure chicken fat biomass in a single production run. The company believes that producing this quantity of pure cultured material in one run is a breakthrough toward potentially manufacturing cultivated chicken fat at an industrial scale.
  
  
• Partnering with Ashton Kutcher and Guy Oseary of BlueSoundWaves: In October 2021, the BlueSoundWaves collective, led by Ashton Kutcher, Guy Oseary and Effie Epstein, partnered with MeaTech with the goal of accelerating the company's growth and development toward commercializing MeaTech's proprietary cultured meat production technologies. BlueSoundWaves works closely with management to propel its strategy, go-to-market activities and brand by leveraging the collective's marketing and strategic expertise and network.
  
  
• 3D-printing a 3.67 oz (104 gm) steak, the largest ever cultured steak to date: In December 2021, MeaTech revealed that it had successfully 3D printed a 3.67 oz cultivated steak primarily composed of cultivated real fat and muscle tissues, without using soy or pea protein. The cells used to make the steak were produced with an advanced proprietary process that starts by isolating bovine stem cells from tissue samples and multiplying them. Upon reaching sufficient cellular mass, stem cells were formulated into bio inks compatible with MeaTech's proprietary 3D bio printer. The bio inks were printed from a digital design file of a steak structure. The printed product was placed in an incubator to mature, allowing the stem cells to differentiate into fat and muscle cells and develop into fat and muscle tissue to form the MeaTech steak.
  
  
• Promising results with muscle stem cell differentiation: In February 2022, MeaTech announced the successful development of a novel technology process in which muscle cells are fused into significant muscle fibers that better resemble those in whole cuts of meat. Bovine stem cells were isolated, proliferated in the lab, and differentiated into matured muscle cells with improved muscle fiber density, thickness and length. Based on these improvements, MeaTech has filed a provisional patent application with the USPTO.
  
  
• Expansion of cultivated meat operation into the US to accelerate go-to-market strategy: In March 2022, MeaTech announced that it will be opening a US office. The new space will include activities in research and development, investor relations, and business development. MeaTech US, based in California, will be another indication of the company's rapid growth and scaling efforts.
  
  
• Peace of Meat pilot plant in Belgium: MeaTech's fully-owned Belgian subsidiary, Peace of Meat, will build a 21,530 sq. ft. R&D facility and pilot plant in Belgium, with construction expected to commence in 2022. The new facility will expand and accelerate MeaTech's cultured avian technology and R&D capabilities and help propel the company's market entry.   

Conference call details

The company will host a conference call today at 8:30 am (EDT). Management will be available to answer questions after providing a business update and presenting the results. To participate, please call one of the following telephone numbers a few minutes before the start of the call:

US:                                         1-888-281-1167                 8:30 am (Eastern Time)

Israel:                                      03-918-0609                     2:30 pm (Israel Time)

International:                          +972-3-918-0609

A live webcast of the conference call can be accessed on the MeaTech website at: 
https://meatech3d.com/events-presentations/

About MeaTech 3D

MeaTech is an international deep-tech food company at the forefront of the cultured meat revolution. The company initiated activities in 2019 and is listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the ticker "MITC". MeaTech maintains facilities in Rehovot, Israel and Antwerp, Belgium and is in the process of expanding activities to California, USA. The company believes cultivated meat technologies hold significant potential to improve meat production, simplify the meat supply chain, and offer consumers a range of new product offerings.  

MeaTech aims to provide an alternative to industrialized animal farming that dramatically reduces carbon footprint, minimizes water and land usage, and prevents the slaughtering of animals. By adopting a modular factory design, MeaTech will be able to offer a sustainable solution for producing a variety of beef, chicken and pork products, both as raw materials and whole cuts. The company will also provide meat manufacturers and retail businesses with production equipment.   

For more information, please visit: https://meatech3d.com

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements concerning MeaTech's business, operations and financial performance and condition as well as plans, objectives, and expectations for MeaTech's business operations and financial performance and condition. Any statements that are not historical facts may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements reflect MeaTech's current views with respect to future events and are based on assumptions and subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which change over time, and other factors that may cause MeaTech's actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include, without limitation, any statement that may predict, forecast, indicate or imply future results, performance or achievements, and are typically identified with words such as "may," "could," "should," "will," "would," "believe," "anticipate," "estimate," "expect," "aim," "intend," "plan" or words or phases of similar meaning and include, without limitation, MeaTech's expectations regarding the success of its cultured meat manufacturing technologies it is developing, which will require significant additional work before MeaTech can potentially launch commercial sales; MeaTech's research and development activities associated with technologies for cultured meat manufacturing, including three-dimensional meat production, which involves a lengthy and complex process; MeaTech's ability to obtain and enforce its intellectual property rights and to operate its business without infringing, misappropriating, or otherwise violating the intellectual property rights and proprietary technology of third parties; and other risks and uncertainties, including those identified in MeaTech's Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 24, 2022. New risks and uncertainties may emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for MeaTech to predict their occurrence or how they will affect MeaTech. If one or more of the factors affecting MeaTech's forward-looking information and statements proves incorrect, then MeaTech's actual results, performance or achievements could differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, forward-looking information and statements contained in this press release. Therefore, MeaTech cautions you not to place undue reliance on its forward-looking information and statements. MeaTech disclaims any duty to revise or update the forward-looking statements, whether written or oral, to reflect actual results or changes in the factors affecting the forward-looking statements, except as specifically required by law.

MeaTech Press Contact:
Maissa Dauriac 
Rainier Communications
mdauriac@rainierco.com

MeaTech Investor Contacts:
Joseph Green
Edison Group 
jgreen@edisongroup.com    

Ehud Helft
Edison Israel 
ehelft@edisongroup.com

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SOURCE MeaTech 3D Ltd.

FAQ

What were MeaTech's 2021 earnings results?

MeaTech reported a net loss of $17.8 million for 2021, equating to $0.16 per share.

What is the current cash position of MeaTech (MITC)?

As of year-end 2021, MeaTech had cash and equivalents of $19.2 million.

What recent business developments occurred for MeaTech in 2021?

MeaTech acquired Peace of Meat and announced plans for expansion into the US and Belgium.

What are the key highlights from MeaTech's 2021 financial report?

Key highlights include a $17.2 million operating loss and increased R&D expenses of $7.6 million.

How did MeaTech's total assets change in 2021?

Total assets increased to $40.7 million at year-end 2021, up from $17.5 million in 2020.