Synthomer 2018 interim results
Underlying profit before tax (PBT) up 6.4% to £76.2m (constant currency up 4.3%):
• Good volume growth in Europe & North America (ENA); unit margins slightly softer due to US$ transaction headwind (c.£5m)
• Strong volume growth in Asia & Rest of World (ARW); unit margin growth in Nitriles
• Successful integration of BASF Pischelsdorf following completion in January
IFRS profit before tax £86.2m
Investment programme to increase capacity across the network on track
R&D delivering sustainable growth: new products represent circa 20% of total sales in Existing business (2017: 20%)
Effective tax rate reduced to 18.0% (H1 2017: 20.0%)
Underlying earnings per share up 9.5% at 18.4p per share
Interim dividend of 4.0p (2017: 3.7p); increase of 8.1% in line with dividend policy
Strong and flexible balance sheet maintained - leverage 1.1x EBITDA
