City shorts: Victrex; Scapa; Science in Sport

POLYMER manufacturer Victrex has acquired a US based polymer gears’ manufacturer in a £3.8m cash deal.

Victrex said the acquisition of Kleiss Gears is in line with its strategy of moving further downstream and investing in growth acceleration opportunities for its pipeline projects.

For its 2014 financial year, Kleiss had revenues of approximately $4m and employed 26 people.

Lancashire-based Victrex, which has 750 employees on the Fylde coast, also gave an update on its third quarter trading performance.

The company said it saw solid trading against tougher comparatives, with its performance reflecting continuing growth across its industrial markets, which is offsetting sales to oil and gas and a lower contribution from its Invibio medical business.

Third quarter group revenue of £64.5m was flat compared to the prior year period figure of £64.2m and slightly ahead in constant currency, with third quarter group sales volume of 1,070 tonnes 17% ahead of the prior year (Q3 2014: 911 tonnes).

“For the year as a whole, whilst challenges continue in the oil and gas market and in improving Invibio’s performance, our overall momentum remains positive and we still expect to fully overcome the impact of foreign currency. Consequently, and reflecting our balanced portfolio, Victrex remains well positioned to deliver profit progress over the full year,” the company said.

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BONDING materials and solutions specialist Scapa Group has announced that it will go ahead with the decision to close its manufacturing facility in Switzerland.

In April, the Ashton-under-Lyne-based company started a formal consultation process with employees on the proposed closure of its facility in Rorschach, Switzerland.

“The consultation process has concluded and the decision has been made to close this facility which is in line with the strategy to optimise return on capital employed. Further information will be provided following the interim period end,” Scapa said.

The group also said that its trading performance for the first quarter is in line with the board’s expectations, with both its healthcare and industrial divisions performing as anticipated.

It said: “Scapa is well positioned to make further progress this year and the board remains confident about the group’s outlook.”

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SPORTS nutrition specialist Science in Sport trumpeted another solid performance in the first half of its financial year.

Lancashire-based Science in Sport, which is owned by Provexis, said sales continued to grow strongly in the six months to June.

Sales increased 19% to £5.24m in while the company said sales growth was particularly strong in e-commerce, both from third-party e-tailers and from the company’s own website, and in international markets.

The company said that, as expected, year on year sales growth will be weighted towards the second half of the financial year.

“The board remains confident of the outlook for the full year and beyond,” the company said.