Morgan Advanced Materials trades flat against 'challenging' market

Advanced materials company Morgan Advanced Materials was trading in line with expectations in the first three months of the year, it reported on Friday, as investors mustered in central London for its annual general meeting.

The FTSE 250 firm’s board said trading was unchanged from its outlook in February, with the transition to a new global organisation structure now successfully completed as part of the implementation of the group’s strategy.

“Year-to-date sales on a constant currency basis are broadly flat compared to the first three months of last year,” the board confirmed in a statement.

“The thermal products division saw low single-digit sales growth against a relatively modest comparator period, driven by growth in Asia and Europe partially offset by a decline in the Americas.”

Morgan’s board said the growth was offset by a decline in the carbon and technical ceramics division, which saw drops across all its businesses in the quarter with a challenging end-market environment.

“Looking forward, our underlying trading expectations for the half-year and full-year remain unchanged, with challenging market conditions persisting and a strong prior year comparator in the second quarter,” the board explained.

“At current exchange rates, currency translation would provide a modest benefit to the reported results.”

Morgan Advanced Materials confirmed there were no significant financial events or transactions during the year to 5 May which resulted in a material impact on the group’s financial position.