Shares in Carclo PLC (LSE:CAR) fell after rising costs offset revenue growth to leave first-half profits lower for the technical plastics specialist.
Led by growth in life science and aerospace, revenue for the six months to end-September grew 23% to £72.2mln.
But while the company has implemented price increases to try and to mitigate higher energy prices, labour and material costs, manufacturing profit margins fell, not helped by a delay in the launch of two new product lines.
Underlying operating profit fell to £3.6mln from £3.7mln, thanks to forex tailwinds. On a constant currency basis, the underlying operating profit was down by £0.3mln.
Profit before tax plunged to £1.7mln from £4.4mln, in large part from the non-repeat of a £2.1mln Covid-related grant from the US government in the previous period.
Chief executive Frank Doorenbosch said the focus is now to capitalise on the growth in the first half "through operational excellence programmes and improved asset utilisation" and to deliver a sustainable increased return on capital employed (ROCE) of 15%.
"Our near-term focus is on cash generation and improved asset utilisation as we seek to reduce our cost of finance in an environment of increasing global interest rates," he added.
The shares dropped over 30% in early trading on Wednesday but by late morning were down 6% at 14.78p.