BOSSES at a technology firm developing a wonder substance say the company is in a good place to continue its expansion, despite reporting wider financial losses.

Applied Graphene Materials (AGM) says it experienced record demand from customers and rising production in the six months to January 31.

The firm, based at Wilton, near Redcar, also revealed it had sent more than 50 samples sent to clients in the period.

However, the update came against pre-tax losses of £1.9m, up from £1.2m a year ago, with a deficit across earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization widening from £820,000 to £1.8m.

Graphene can conduct electricity a million times better than copper, despite being as thin as human hair, and Jon Mabbitt, AGM’s chief executive, said the firm’s added costs were the result of its push to get a foothold in the market, with cash spent on production and overheads, including increasing its near 30-strong workforce.

He said: “Over the last six months, we have established a global profile through our market development activities.

“We have extended the scope of our customer engagements in our target markets where our existing partnerships are becoming more advanced and we are seeing appetite from further new potential partners.

“As we progress towards production orders, we have successfully increased production volumes over the period while maintaining consistent dispersion quality on a larger scale to ensure the best enhancements for our customers.”

Since Graphene was isolated by scientists at Manchester University ten years ago, it has been hailed as a material set to revolutionise manufacturing by helping to produce a dazzling array of applications, from bendable mobile phones to almost unbreakable tennis rackets.

It is also 200 times stronger than steel, with some experts predicting a sheet of graphene as thin as clingfilm could support an elephant.

To capitalise on its revolutionary potential, AGM has developed and owns the intellectual property rights for a form of graphene, which can be used as an additive in paints, coatings, plastics, lubricants and resins.

It previously raised £11m from a flotation on the Alternative Investment Market, and secured Government funding for two projects.

Those deals have allowed AGM to work with DuPont Teijin Films to investigate the use and dispersion of graphene in polyester films as well as PolyPhotonix and the Centre for Process Innovation, in Sedgefield, County Durham, on the development of graphene-based transparent electrodes.

PolyPhotonix is known for its work on revolutionary sleep masks capable of transforming the treatment of eye disease in diabetes sufferers.

AGM already works with renowned vacuum cleaner maker Dyson, and Procter and Gamble, on using graphene in consumer products.

Mr Mabbitt added: “As our reputation grows, so do the strength and depth of our customer engagements.

“While not yet converted into production scale orders, discussions indicate we are making good progress towards that stage.

“Our material samples have resulted in further work and repeat sample orders targeted at specific applications and opportunities.

“The number of customer engagements is increasing and the rate of increase is accelerating, due largely to the efforts of our expanded commercial team and the continuing global appetite to assess such a potentially game-changing material.”