Victrex profits surge to record £94m

VICTREX, which makes and supplies  polymers to the auto, aerospace oil and gas and electronics sectors reported record results today as profits soared 26% to £94.2m.

The international group, headquartered at Thornton Cleveleys, Lancashire, said sales in the year to the end of September rose 14% to £215.8m with growth in all major market sectors.

In line with its strong performance the debt-free company hiked its full year dividend 30% to 32.5p per share.

Victrex has two divisions, Victrex Polymer Solutions (VPS), which focuses on transport, industrial and the electronics markets and Invibio Biomaterial Solutions, which supplies medical device manufacturers.

Despite the glowing results, chairman Anita Frew sounded a note of caution as she said the group had noticed a softening of demand among VPS customers.

She said: “Demand across most of our end user markets continues to be stable. We have seen some softening in parts of our VPS business, particularly in Europe, as customers are cautiously managing inventories ahead of the calendar year end. In our Invibio business we continue to see good growth.

“We remain vigilant of the economic uncertainty, particularly in the Eurozone, and the impact this could have on our customers and end users.

“Whilst it is early in the financial year, assuming demand in our end markets remains resilient we anticipate full year earnings being on track with current market expectations for 2012.”

She said Victrex is in ‘excellent’ financial position, which gives it a strong platform to invest further in technical products and development new growth opportunities.

During the year total sales volumes rose 13% to 2,860 tonnes. Revenue in the VPS division was up 14% to £166.1m and operating profits 38% to £66.8m.

Performance in the Invivio business was also at record levels with revenues up 12% to £49.7m and operating profits up 8% at £30.3m.