Essentra Regulatory News (ESNT)

ESSENTRA PLC

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING - TRADING UPDATE

At Essentra plc's ("Essentra" or "the Company") Annual General Meeting ("AGM") to be held today, Paul Lester, Chairman, will make the following statement.

Current trading

Trading for the financial year to date has been in line with the Board's expectations, with the Company delivering like-for-like revenue growth of c. 2% for the period (c. +3%, adjusting for the closure of the Newport IP5 cartons site at the end of 2017).

Strong growth in Components was driven by all geographic regions, with a stable result in Filters reflecting a continued good performance in China and ongoing pipeline development of innovative new products. The rate of decline in Packaging continued to moderate, with the division benefiting from the significant improvements in service and quality which were progressively established over the course of the prior year. A modest increase in Specialist Components was boosted by the Industrial Supply, Extrusion and Pipe Protection Technologies ("PPT") businesses, although the rate of improvement in PPT has significantly reduced when compared to Q1 2017.

Outlook

The Components business is expected to continue to generate strong, broad-based growth, with both the Filters and Specialist Components divisions maintaining a broadly stable result. In Packaging, improving year-on-year trends continue to be anticipated, having increasingly stabilised the business and addressed certain one-time factors in 2017.

Accordingly, and as previously communicated in Essentra's FY 2017 results announcement on 2 March 2018, the Board confirms its expectation of a return to like-for-like revenue growth and margin expansion in Full Year 2018 as Essentra continues to drive its stability agenda.

Enquiries

Notes to Editors

About Essentra plc

Essentra plc is a FTSE 250 company and a leading global provider of essential components and solutions. Organised into four divisions from the start of 2018 - reflecting the Company's strategic review - Essentra focuses on the light manufacture and distribution of high volume, enabling components which serve customers in a wide variety of end-markets and geographies.

Essentra Components

Essentra Components is a global market leading manufacturer and distributor of plastic injection moulded, vinyl dip moulded and metal items. Operating in 27 countries worldwide, nine manufacturing facilities and 24 logistics centres serve more than 90,000 customers with a rapid supply of low cost but essential products for a variety of applications in industries such as equipment manufacturing, automotive, fabrication, electronics and construction.

Essentra Packaging

Essentra Packaging is one of only two multi-continental suppliers of a full secondary packaging range to the health and personal care sectors, with 25 facilities across four geographic regions. The division's innovative products include cartons, leaflets, self-adhesive labels and printed foils used in blister packs, which help customers to meet the rapidly-changing requirements of these end-markets and can also be combined with Essentra's authentication solutions to help the fight against counterfeiting.

Essentra Filters

Essentra Filters is the only global independent cigarette filter supplier. The nine worldwide locations, including a dedicated Technology Centre supported by three regional development facilities, provide a flexible infrastructure strategically positioned to serve the tobacco sector. The business supplies a wide range of value-adding high quality innovative filters, packaging solutions to the roll your own segment and analytical laboratory services for ingredient measurement to the industry: Essentra's offering also includes e-cigarette and Heat Not Burn solutions to the rapidly evolving market for Next Generation Products.

Essentra Specialist Components

Essentra Specialist Components comprises the Company's six smaller businesses. These activities largely have strong positions in the markets in which they operate, although they have little overlap with each other or with Essentra's larger three global divisions.

The Extrusion business is a leading custom profile extruder located in The Netherlands which offers a complete design and production service. One of the first companies to extrude plastics, Essentra is now one of Europe's most advanced suppliers of co-extrusion and tri-extrusion to all branches of industry.

The Pipe Protection Technologies business specialises in the manufacture of high performance innovative products from commodity resins to engineering-grade thermoplastics and polymer alloys, largely for use in the oil and gas industry. Locations in four countries, combined with a wide distributor network, serve customers around the world.

The Speciality Tapes business has expertise in coating multiple adhesive systems in numerous technologies, with close to 3,000 tape products available for same-day shipping and predominantly for point of purchase and white goods applications.

The Tear Tapes business is globally recognised as the leading manufacturer and supplier of pressure-sensitive tear tapes, which are largely used in the tobacco, food and drink and specialist packaging sectors.

The Industrial Supply business provides a wide range of branded hardware supplies to a broad base of industrial customers, largely located in the US Mid-West.

The Security business is a leading European provider of ID card printers, systems and accessories to direct and trade customers.

Headquartered in the United Kingdom, Essentra's global network extends to 33 countries and includes c. 8,000 employees, 49 principal manufacturing facilities, 66 sales & distribution operations and 4 research & development centres. For further information, please visit www.essentraplc.com.