Essentra PLC (LON:ESNT) narrowed its 2017 loss as revenue was lifted by favourable foreign exchange rates, a strong performance in its component solutions business and an improvement in the filter products arm.
The maker of plastic and fibre products posted a pre-tax loss from continuing operations of £5mln in 2017, compared to a loss of £63mln a year earlier.
Excluding items, adjusted pre-tax profit from continuing operations fell to £74mln from £96mln.
READ: Essentra says facilities affected by Hurricane Maria, sees profit impact from previous storms
Essentra left its full year dividend unchanged at 20.7p
Revenue rose to £1.03bn from £999mln. But on a like-for-like basis – excluding the benefit of foreign exchange tailwinds, acquisitions and disposals –revenue fell 2%.
The operating margin also dropped by 270 basis points to 8.2%.
The company said like-for-like revenue and margins were affected by a hurricane in Puerto Rico, the closure of its loss-making cartons site in Newport and a decline in its health and personal care packaging division.
CEO positive on outlook but says 'a lot of work still to do'
However, it expects a return to like-for-like revenue growth and margin expansion in 2018.
“I have previously expressed that restoring Essentra to sustainable, profitable growth is not a rapid journey, and we clearly have a lot of work still to do,” said chief executive Paul Forman.
“However, together we have made great progress and tangible improvement in FY 2017, so we are already well on our way."
READ: Essentra expands components unit with acquisition of US-based Micro Plastics
As part of a strategic review under Forman, the group has restructured the business into four divisions – components, packaging, filters and specialist components. The new structure came into effect at the start of this year.
In December the company announced it had bought US-based Micro Plastics Inc for an undisclosed cash consideration to expand its product range in the components division.
Shares rose 5.3% to 466p in morning trade.