MAM FY profit rises on margins; Sees H1 hit from Coronavirus

Specialist materials maker Morgan Advanced Materials reported a rise in full year profits on margins boosted by better sales and cost efficiencies.

Pre-tax profit rose to £109.7m, up from £94.9m on-year as revenue rose 1.5% to £1.05bn and headline operating margins increased to 12.8%, up from 12.1%. The full year dividend was held at 11p per share.

MAM said it expected group organic constant-currency revenue growth for 2020 to be in the range of flat-to-modest growth based on its current assessment of business trends and orders, with the first half slightly below this trend, due to the impact of the coronavirus.

For the year to December 31, the company cited strong growth in its semiconductor and electronics, chemical and petrochemical, healthcare and aerospace segments which “more than offset declines in industrial and automotive markets”.

“In 2020 we are expecting similar market conditions to 2019, with weak industrial and automotive markets persisting and geo-political uncertainties remaining. However, we expect growth in our faster growing market segments to more than offset these market weaknesses,” the company said on Tuesday.

“Beyond the underlying trends in the business, we have headwinds from foreign exchange translation and the completion of our previously announced exit from the Electro-ceramics site in the US.”