Trading Statement

RNS Number : 8085B

Victrex PLC

09 April 2013

 



Victrex plc

Half Year Trading Update

The Company announces its trading update for the six months ended 31 March 2013.

Trading

We are pleased to report that, despite continued global economic challenges, Group sales volume for the first half of 1,392 tonnes was ahead of the same period for last year (1,377 tonnes). As expected, this reflects a stronger performance from our Victrex Polymer Solutions business ('VPS') in the second quarter with Group sales volume of 752 tonnes compared to the first quarter of 640 tonnes. The first half has also seen continued progress from speciality products, predominantly driven by success in our Aptiv^® films business.

In our Invibio^® Biomaterial Solutions business ('Invibio') the de-stocking we reported at selected spine customers in the second half of last year has continued resulting in revenues for the first half of £24.2m compared to £25.5m for the same period last year. We have made further progress with regulatory approvals in the spine market in Asia and the initial response to the launch of our dental product line, JUVORA^TM, has been positive.

Management appointment

We are pleased to report the appointment of Dr Martin Court as Managing Director of our Invibio business. Prior to joining Victrex, Martin was Vice President of In Process Separation at Cytec Industries Inc. Martin brings a wealth of experience to the management team having held senior strategic, international, general management and technical roles within Cytec, UCB and ICI.

Outlook

We remain vigilant of the challenges that persist in some of our end markets, however the initial order book for April is robust.

The opportunities to drive growth into new markets, applications and geographies remain strong. We continue to work with customers and end users on focused application development and our key growth programmes to ensure the potential for our business is realised.

Our capital investment programme remains on track, including our Victrex PEEK capacity expansion as well as projects to further develop our capability in downstream processing such as film, pipes and composites.

Victrex will host a conference call at 9.00am today for analysts. If you would like more details, please contact Rosa Smith at MHPC on 0203 128 8560 / [e-mail].

Victrex will announce its results for the six months ended 31 March 2013 on Tuesday 28 May 2013.

Enquiries

Victrex plc

Steve Barrow, Finance Director                                0203 128 8100 (9 April 2013)

                                                                             01253 897700 (thereafter)

MHP Communications

Nick Denton / Barnaby Fry / Ian Payne                      0203 128 8100

Victrex plc is an innovative world leader in high performance materials through the manufacture of VICTREX^® PEEK polymer, a high performance, easy to process thermoplastic.

With over 30 years of experience, Victrex is a provider of innovative, high performance thermoplastic polymers. We work with customers and end users globally to deliver technology driven solutions to the challenges and opportunities they face. Our Victrex Polymer Solutions business unit ('VPS') focuses on our transport, industrial and electronics markets and our Invibio^® Biomaterial Solutions business unit ('Invibio') focuses on providing specialist solutions for medical device manufacturers.

 

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