Zotefoams plc (LON:ZTF), a world leader in cellular materials technology, today announced its interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2019.
Highlights
· Record Group revenue of £42.30m, up 12% on prior period (2018: £37.89m) and 9% in constant currency:
o 40% growth in High Performance Products (“HPP”), which now represents 30% (2018: 24%) of Group sales
o 3% growth in Polyolefin Foams
o 3% growth in MuCell Extrusion sales
· Profit before income tax up 7% to £4.93m (2018: £4.60m)
· Improvements in cash flows from operating activities:
o Operating profit before changes in working capital and provisions up 11% to £8.29m (2018: £7.50m)
o Cash generated from operations up £5.83m to £5.20m (2018: cash used in operations £0.63m)
· On schedule with the three major capital projects in the UK, USA and Poland to expand capacity and support growth
· Interim dividend increased by 3.0% to 2.03 pence
· Expect to meet market expectations for the full year
Financial highlights
| Six months ended 30 June 2019 | Six months ended 30 June 2018 | Change | |
| £m | £m | % | |
| Group revenue | 42.30 | 37.89 | 12 |
| Gross profit | 15.03 | 12.92 | 16 |
| Gross profit margin | 35.5% | 34.1% | – |
| Operating profit | 5.09 | 5.02 | 1 |
| Profit before income tax | 4.93 | 4.60 | 7 |
| Basic EPS (p) | 8.55 | 8.07 | 6 |
| Interim dividend (p) | 2.03 | 1.97 | 3 |
Commenting on the results, David Stirling, Group CEO, said:
“Zotefoams’ ambition is to be the world leader in cellular materials technology in our chosen markets and, in the period, we have again delivered strong organic growth with record Group revenue and half-year earnings.
Potential new projects in MuCell Extrusion and HPP, in particular, offer clear opportunity to grow the Zotefoams business to revenues of £100m and beyond. To hit this milestone in 2020 we need to maintain momentum in business development and technical support of these opportunities to create significant shareholder value in future years.
We expect Zotefoams to deliver further growth in 2019 and meet market expectations, however we are mindful of a difficult current trading environment in European polyolefin foams markets and the less stable political and macroeconomic environment. The Board remains confident in the future prospects for the business.”
