• Akzo Nobel Selektope product on Korean market in 6-12 months
• Adds Akzo Nobel to list of named customers, brining the total to four
• Supports estimates and confirms interest post EU regulatory issue

New product containing Selektope within 6-12 months

I-Tech announced in a press release this morning that it has signed a licence agreement with International Paints Korea Ltd, a subsidiary of Akzo Nobel, for commercial use of Selektope. In H1'23, 50% of I-Techs revenue came from South Korea, which is one of the world's largest shipbuilding nations, winning 29% of world-wide ship orders in H1'23. International Paints Korea Ltd is expected to release an antifouling product containing Selektope targeting the South Korean market within 6-12 months.

New agreement sooner than expected, supports estimates

The announced agreement adds Akzo Nobel to the list of named customers, previously comprising Chugoku Marine Paints, Jotun, and Hempel. While I-Tech had previously said that it was hoping to sign 1-2 new commercial customers in the coming 12 months, this announcement came sooner than we expected, and we think this provides good support for consensus estimates going into '24e. It is also positive to get confirmation that potential customers have not lost interest in Selektope since the regulatory issue in the EU appeared.