Synthomer Regulatory News (SYNT)

16th May 2013

Synthomer plc

AGM and Interim Management Statement

Synthomer plc ("Synthomer" or "the Group") today issues its Interim Management Statement for the period 1 January to 16 May 2013.

Trading

After the Group's solid start to the year, demand in Europe was weaker than anticipated during March and April. While trading in Asia has been ahead of expectations in the year-to-date, volumes and profits for the Group overall were lower against a strong performance in the same period in 2012.

Since Synthomer's last update in March, the macro-economic environment in Europe has remained challenging and this has continued to impact demand. Our Europe and North America (ENA) business experienced 7% year-on-year volume declines in March and April. Weakness continued to be most evident in construction and related areas, in part due to the adverse weather conditions.

In Asia and Rest of the World, trading has been ahead of our expectations and demand across all business areas remains strong. Nitrile has outperformed our expectations and we now expect full year nitrile operating profit to be ahead of 2012. Our non-nitrile businesses have continued to trade well, with the benefits of strong demand restricted only by the capacity constraints we currently face in Asia.

The Group's additional 70,000 tonnes of nitrile capacity, completed at the end of 2012, is now operational, and our plans to bring SBR latex capability on stream in Malaysia during the second half of the year remain on track.

The Group's financial position remains robust, with net debt slightly higher over the first 4 months reflecting the higher levels of capital expenditure anticipated for the year, and the normal seasonal working capital outflow.

Outlook

Continued weakness in the macro-economic environment in Europe has resulted in challenging trading conditions for our business and, given the performance of our ENA business in March and April, we remain cautious about the outlook for the year. We are encouraged by the progress being made in our Asian business, with demand growth remaining strong and improved nitrile market dynamics. The Board expects this relative strength in Asia will partially offset the weakness being seen in Europe.

Synthomer will announce its Interim Results on Tuesday 13th August 2013.

Enquiries:

The company will host a conference call for analysts at 8.00am (BST) today:

  Dial-In: +44 203 426 2886

Please quote "Synthomer" to gain access to the call