Victrex says it saw 'good finish' to 2015

Victrex said it enjoyed a good finish to 2015, with overall performance in line with its expectations, including a robust fourth quarter.

In a full-year pre-close trading update for the financial year ended 30 September 2015, the specialty chemicals company said for the year as a whole, the value of its balanced portfolio helped to drive growth and overcome headwinds such as weaker sales in Oil & Gas, the effects of US Spine market consolidation on its Invibio medical business and a big hit from foreign exchange.

On a reported basis, full-year group revenue came in 4% ahead of last year at £263.5m, with fourth-quarter sales of £68.7m flat on the previous year.

Group sales volume, meanwhile, was up 19% from last year at 4,217 tonnes, reflecting overall momentum in VPS remaining positive during the fourth quarter, with growth across Aerospace, Automotive, General Industrial and strong Consumer Electronics volumes offsetting Oil & Gas.

Victrex said Invibio performance in line with its previous guidance, with full-year revenue of £50.5m, down 5% from last year.

“Our overall growth momentum remains positive as we start our new financial year. Whilst we are mindful of the continuing weakness in Oil & Gas and the need to improve Invibio performance in 2016, our balanced portfolio keeps us well placed to continue driving growth and creating value, in line with our long term strategy.”

At 0817 BST, Victrex shares were 0.4% lower at 1,849p.