Synthomer (LSE:SYNT), the London-listed specialty polymers and ingredients supplier, issued an AGM trading update on Wednesday pointing to strong first-half revenue, EBITDA and margin growth against the prior year, with the pace of improvement accelerating sharply through April and May.
The group said the Iran conflict created significant disruption to global sourcing networks, particularly for Asian competitors, directly benefiting its Health and Protection and Performance Materials division through higher volumes and some customer pre-buying to build supply chain resilience.
Coatings and Construction Solutions led the recovery from the start of the year, supported by targeted growth initiatives including industrial coatings for data centres, while Adhesive Solutions remained stable; all three divisions improved their momentum through the first quarter before the sharper acceleration in the second.
Synthomer completed a bank debt refinancing in April, which it said provides substantial liquidity and covenant headroom, even after the unwind of a £50 million receivables purchasing arrangement with KLK and the seasonal working capital build typical of the first half.
"The market environment remains uncertain and so our focus is on continuing to deliver our speciality strategy, including divestments, to strengthen our balance sheet and support further improvement in Synthomer's sustainable earnings potential," said CEO Michael Willome.
The group also noted last week's announcement of the divestment of its Acrylate Monomers business, with further non-core disposal processes ongoing to accelerate deleveraging.
Synthomer plans to report interim results on 4 August.
