Business
Post-close trading update
Post-close trading update.
About this update from Synthomer Plc
[{"type":"text","content":"\n\nSynthomer plc\nPost-close trading update\n \nSynthomer plc ('Synthomer' or 'the Group') today announces an update regarding trading for the six months ended 30 June 2023 (the 'period') and our outlook for the remainder of 2023.\n \nGroup trading\nContinuing Group revenue in the period was £1.1bn with EBITDA expected to be in the range of £72-74m, broadly consistent with the Board's expectations described in our 2022 results announcement in March. Continuing Group EBITDA in the second quarter was higher than the first, notwithstanding the challenging macroeconomic conditions throughout the period. Robust pricing and our strong focus on margins helped to mitigate substantially lower volumes compared with the first half of 2022, a consequence of destocking, subdued levels of demand across most of our end markets and increased competition in some of our base chemical product ranges.\n \nWe continued to focus on cash generation during the period, with reductions in capital expenditure, working capital and costs across the Group. As at 30 June 2023, net debt was c.£795m, with net debt:EBITDA on a leverage covenant basis of 5.5 times and committed liquidity of more than £400m.\n \nDivisional update\nAll divisions continued to make progress against their key priorities, including delivery of our refreshed strategy as announced last October. Those parts of our portfolio identified as the more speciality, higher growth areas in our strategy review proved the most resilient during the period and are already beginning to benefit from our differentiated focus and investment.\n \nCoatings & Construction Solutions (CCS) is achieving robust pricing and margins, with improved trading performance over the period compared with the last quarter of 2022 despite cautious customer buying behaviour. In line with our strategy, CCS recently implemented several actions to broaden geographic and customer penetration which will strengthen organic growth and increase market share over time, while enhancing margins.\n \nThe performance of Adhesive Solutions (AS) in the period continues to reflect the lower volume environment as well as the previously disclosed operational reliability and supply chain challenges in the adhesive resins business, acquired in early 2022. We expect our reliability and performance improvement m...