Speciality plastics products producer Synthomer PLC (LON:SYNT) has reported record underlying profit before tax for 2017.
The group expressed confidence in its prospects for the current year and left its expectations unchanged.
#Synthomer - Operating profit £142.1m, in line. Revenue a small beat at £1.62bn. Expectations for 2019 remain unchanged. Divi +7.1%. #SYNT
— Robert Barron, MCSI (@RobBarronInvest) 4 March 2019
Revenue for the year rose 9.4%, or 7.8% on a constant currency (CC) basis, to £1.62bn from £1.48bn the year before.
The group said it saw strong organic growth from its Asia and Rest of the World segment which helped to offset adverse currency and raw material headwinds in Europe and North America.
Underlying profit before tax, which strips out what the company considers to be one-off items, climbed 3.9% (+2.0% on a CC basis) to £135.1mln from £130.0mln in 2017.
Reported profit before tax jumped 39.2% to £120.3mln from £86.4mln the previous year, with this year’s performance flattered by a £16.4mln gain on the disposal of land in Malaysia and a year-on-year £14.6mln reduction in the amortisation of intangible assets.
The company has bumped up the full-year dividend to 13.1p from 12.2p the year before.
“Looking forward, the group's leading market positions, incremental low-cost production capacity, geographic diversity and product differentiation, ensure we are well placed to navigate the current global political and economic uncertainties. Given this, we are confident of making further progress in 2019 and the Board's expectations remain unchanged," said Synthomer’s chairman, Neil Johnson.
Synthomer’s shares were down 2.2% at 388.4p in early deals.