Victrex profit and revenue down as consumer electronics volumes drop

Victrex reported a drop in profit and revenue for the year to the end of September as it took a hit from a weaker first-half and lower overall consumer electronics volumes, but the company said it remains comfortable with current market expectations for 2017.

The FTSE 250 supplier of high performance polymer solutions posted a 6% drop in pre-tax profit to £100.3m on revenue of £252.3m, down 4% from the previous year.

Earnings per share slipped to 96.8p from 98.1p and the company declared a dividend per share of 46.82p, flat on the year.

Victrex said its core business volumes – which exclude consumer electronics – were up 9% in the second half, with growth in transport markets and a more stable performance in energy.

Chief executive David Hummel said: “Victrex delivered a good finish to 2016, with our overall performance offset by a weaker first half and consumer electronics volumes being down over 30% for the full year. Our core business is in growth, with a notable improvement in the second half year.

"Our new product pipeline made good progress, with Magma securing meaningful revenue, a major development agreement established for Trauma and further prototype revenue with major Automotive manufacturers for our Gears programme. We are also announcing investments to help progress our mega-programmes and our downstream polymer to parts strategy. Our £10m investment in Magma Global will provide us with greater influence over the strategic direction of this business, underpinning the development of our mega-programme and additional manufacturing capability.”