Vesuvius hails record results despite 'tough' markets

In the year to 31 December 2022, pre-tax profit rose 62% to £207m, with revenues up 25% at £2bn. Trading profit was 60% higher at £227m and the company delivered a return on sales of 11.1%, up from 8.7% a year earlier.

Vesuvius proposed a final dividend of 15.75p, taking the full year dividend to 22.25p a share, up 5%.

Chief executive Patrick Andre said: "2022 was a record year for Vesuvius despite difficult market conditions in the second half. This performance was made possible by the technological differentiation of our products and solutions, which enabled us to simultaneously compensate for all cost inflation with price increases and gain market share.

"These record results are higher than those ever achieved pre-pandemic, despite materially lower volumes, in both the steel and foundry divisions, as our end markets have not fully recovered since that period. This shows that our objective of a 12.5% return on sales is achievable in the medium-term on normalised volumes."

Despite a number of headwinds - weak steel and foundry markets, the ongoing impact of a cyber incident at the start of the year and a planned reduction in inventory - the company said it was on track to meet its expectations for 2023.