Synthomer Regulatory News (SYNT)

14 May 2009 07:00

14 May 2009

Yule Catto & Co plc 

AGM and Interim Management Statement

At today's Annual General Meeting of Yule Catto & Co plc, an international producer of speciality chemicals, Peter Wood, Chairman, will make the following statement, which comprises Yule Catto's Interim Management Statement for the period from 1 January 2009 to date.

Trading update

2009 has started satisfactorily given the very difficult macro economic environment. The Group has benefited from the weakness of sterling, and overall the Group has traded in line with management expectations.

In Polymer Chemicals, the substantial volume declines seen in the fourth quarter of 2008 persisted into 2009 although March was slightly better than the first two months of the year.

Pharma Chemicals had a good first quarter compared to what was a relatively weak start to 2008. Profits were in line with our expectations for a stronger full year performance in 2009. 

William Blythe, the remaining Impact Chemicals business was ahead of last year as expected, and benefited from the restructuring implemented at the end of the first quarter of 2008.

The Group announced a number of cost reduction initiatives with its full year 2008 results which are on track.

Following the successful refinancing at the year end with a new revolving finance facility and Malaysian term loan, the Group is making good progress on its debt reduction target. 

Looking forward we continue to expect the Pharma business to deliver higher profits than 2008, assisted by the favourable €/$ exchange rate and increased capacities for a number of products. Similarly William Blythe should continue to trade satisfactorily following its restructuring. Volume declines in Polymers moderated at the end of the first quarter but the outlook for the balance of the year remains uncertain. A large proportion of the Polymer Division's sales are in Europe and Asia and hence we are currently benefiting from the weakness of sterling. Given the uncertainty in our end markets, it is difficult to give any firm guidance on the outturn for Polymers for the full year and hence the Group as a whole.

Board Changes

Further to the retirement of Anthony Richmond-Watson, two other non executive directors will be retiring at this Annual General Meeting:- Dato' Seri Lee Oi Hian, who joined the Board in 1981 and is Chief Executive of Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd which has been a major shareholder in the Company since 1976; and Richard Hunting, an independent non executive director, who joined the Board in 2000 and has been Chairman of the Nomination Committee since 2001 and a member of the Audit Committee for nine years. I would like to thank all of them for their valuable contribution to the Group.

We are delighted to welcome Graham Menzies who joined the Board on 1 March this year. Graham's biographical details are in the circular that accompanied the 2008 Annual Report and he has been appointed as the Senior Independent Director after a distinguished career as a public company chief executive.

These changes complete the realignment of our Board structure and we believe that the Board, as currently constituted, is appropriate and balanced to serve the future needs of the Group.

ENQUIRIES: