Synthomer Regulatory News (SYNT)

14th February 2022

Synthomer Plc

Pre-close trading update

Synthomer plc ('Synthomer' or 'the Group') today issues a trading update for the year ended 31st December 2021 ahead of announcing Full Year results on 3rd March 2022.

The Group has seen strong trading across all divisions during 2021 with Full Year EBITDA expected to be double the prior year, in-line with current market expectations of £518.4m* (2020: £259.4m; 2019: £177.9m).

Alongside a positive contribution from Omnova and strong organic growth, the exceptional performance in 2021 has benefited from peak margins within Performance Elastomers' NBR business.

As anticipated, NBR margins have now normalised to pre-Covid levels, although this has happened since January, ahead of Q1 2022 guidance set out in our Q3 2021 trading update. Accordingly, the Group does not expect any NBR pandemic premium in 2022.

In addition, year-to-date NBR demand has continued to be subdued due to high inventory levels of medical gloves and reduced demand due to the easing of the Covid19 pandemic. Trading conditions in NBR are expected to normalise by the end of H1 with market growth returning to 2019 levels in the second half.

All other divisions have had an encouraging start to the year, and the Group remains on track to complete the acquisition of Eastman's Adhesives Resins business in Q1. The Group continues to look for further bolt-on acquisition opportunities geared towards attractive end-markets that are value accretive to Synthomer's portfolio.

The Board remains confident that the benefits of recent acquisitions, continued investment in new capacity and its proven growth strategy will underpin growing sustainable profits in the coming years.

Further information will be provided on 3rd March with the Group's Full Year 2021 results.

* Teneo compiled consensus

- ENDS -

Conference call

The company will hold a conference call for investors and analysts at 0730 BST today:

Dial in number: +44 333 300 0804

Access code: 82084027#

Enquiries

Tim Hughes, President, Corporate Development Tel: +44 1279 436211 

Charles Armitstead, Teneo Tel: +44 7703 330 269