With its reorganisation process paying off and margins at their highest level in decades, Morgan Advanced Materials plc (LSE:MGAM) said it had turned a profit in its full year.
From a loss of £13.1mln the year before, the group posted a profit of £104.3mln in the year to December 31, 2021.
In the year ended December 31, 2021, revenue was up 4.4% at £950.5mln.
Revenue in the thermal products division jumped from £385.5mln in 2020 to £412.4mln in 2021, and revenue in the carbon and technical ceramics division rose to £538.1mln, compared to £525.2mln the previous year.
The dividend per share for 2021 was increased from 5.5p to 9.1p.
In addition to its profit growth, the company said it is continuing to improve efficiency through pricing and continuous improvement, even as it reported an operating profit increase of £113.1mln from a loss of £1.8mln in 2020.
While adjusted earnings per share of 27.2p was up 43% on the previous year, adjusted operating profit margin was 13.1%, up by 300 bps, the highest in more than 20 years.
"2021 was the second challenging year with the COVID-19 pandemic driving various restrictions on mobility and activity around the world. Demand recovered strongly across the global economy following the sharp slowdown in 2020, and the combination of high demand and the pandemic led to supply chain disruptions and inflation in materials and labour in various parts of our business," said Pete Raby, chief executive officer.
Despite these challenges, the chief executive said the company implemented its strategy, resulting in margins reaching their highest levels in more than 20 years.
Good order momentum has been coming in with the company anticipating organic revenue growth of 4-7% in 2022. With its investments in new products and new technologies, the company plans to increase its exposure to its faster-growing segments like clean energy, clean transportation, semiconductors and healthcare.
According to the company, it has ceased all trading with Russia and fully supports the sanctions imposed against it. In 2021, the company had revenues from Russia of £4.0mln, representing less than 0.5% of its total revenues.
The company has no "significant dependency on material supply from Russia or Ukraine.