Previously listed as Yule Catto under the ticker YULC, changes it's name to Synthomer which is considered to be a more recognisable corporate name globally.

"Synthomer is one of the world’s major suppliers of latices and speciality emulsion polymers supporting leadership positions in many market segments including coatings, construction, textiles, paper and synthetic latex gloves. The company has its headquarters in Harlow, UK and provides customer focused services from operational centres in Marl, Germany and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia."

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StockMarketWire.com
Synthomer said its 2012 trading and profitability were in line with management's view and that it sees underlying pretax profit ahead of 2011's pro-forma £96 million.

"Demand in Europe has remained subdued during the fourth quarter and this continues to be most evident in construction related areas," the company said.

"In Asia and rest of the world, the non-nitrile business continues to perform strongly, whilst the nitrile business has performed in line with our expectations as set out in the Group's interim results in August," the company said.

Synergies from the acquisition of PolymerLatex remained on track to deliver £19 million in 2012, a £16 million year-on-year improvement over 2011.

StockMarketWire.com
Synthomer booked a 2.2% rise in its full-year pretax profit to £98.1 million, from £96.0 million, which it described as a resilient performance despite challenging conditions.

The result followed sales of £1.11 billion, from £1.27 billion, the company said, upping its total dividend per share to 5.5p, up 57.15 from the prior year's 3.5p.

"Synthomer delivered a resilient performance in 2012, against challenging market conditions," said the British-based chemicals business CEO Adrian Whitfield.

"In Europe, we continued to manage our margins and deliver the synergies arising from the PolymerLatex acquisition. In Asia, our non-nitrile business performed well this year, while the difficult conditions seen in our nitrile business have stabilised and our long term prospects in this area remain strong," he said.

Synthomer had made a solid start to the year, but still expected the macro-economic environment in Europe to continue to result in challenging trading conditions through 2013.

"Our expectations for the Asian Nitrile market remain unchanged, with improvements expected from the end of this year. With our non-nitrile capacity in Asia fully utilised, we will continue to invest in capacity in emerging markets to build our platform for future growth beyond 2013," Whitfield said.

"We expect demand growth in our emerging markets to remain strong and overall the board remains confident in the Group's long-term prospects and strategy."

Synthomer downgraded by Merrill Lynch

StockMarketWire.com

Bank of America Merrill Lynch has downgraded its recommendation on small cap speciality polymer producer Synthomer (LON:SYNT) to "neutral" from "buy" in a wider European chemicals research note today. The City broker has reduced its price target by 12 per cent to 220 pence per share (previously 250 pence) given its view of the increased risks from pricing in key product areas. Separately, Jefferies initiated coverage with a "hold" recommendation and 225 pence per share price target in a note to investors last week.

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.

StockMarketWire.com
Synthomer's first-half pretax profit slipped 10.3% to £48.6 million, from £54.2 million, in what it described as a solid performance in challenging market conditions.

Its interim dividend was 2.4p a share, up 9.1% from 2.2p.

The company said its performance in Europe was impacted by on-going weak demand, particularly in construction related areas, reflecting the current macro environment.

However, growth in Asia and the rest of the world was driven by continuing strong nitrile demand growth and modest recovery in unit margins from H2 2012 levels.

Net debt was reduced to £151.7 million, from £174.2 million.

"Synthomer has delivered a solid performance in the first half of 2013, in line with expectations," said CEO Adrian Whitfield.

"Business in Europe has remained challenging, with a continuation of the weak demand trends seen in the second half of 2012 reflecting the current economic environment," Whitfield said.

"In Asia, the performance of our nitrile business has been encouraging, with the pace of recovery being faster than originally anticipated. We have seen good demand growth and a modest improvement in margins from the low levels we saw over most of last year," he added.

Whitfield said that, for the remainder of the year, absent any recovery in demand in Europe, the "board expects that our European business profitability will be somewhat lower than the first half, largely reflecting the impact of normal seasonal factors.

"The Asia and ROW business is expected to operate at a similar level to the first half."

StockMarketWire.com
Jefferies has upgraded its recommendation on Synthomer (LON:SYNT) to "buy" from "hold" seeing the shares as cheap against the backdrop of an improving European macro outlook which should feed through to a recovery in the Asian nitrile market as demand grows. The City broker has increased its price target by almost 40 per cent to 305 pence per share (previously 220 pence). Earnings per share estimates have been pegged back slightly to 20.2 pence (from 21.1 pence) for 2013, to 22 pence (from 23.3 pence) for 2014 and to 24.2 pence (from 24.8 pence) for 2015. Similarly, pre-tax profit forecasts have been trimmed to £91.9 million (from £97.3 million) for 2013, to £98.7 million (from £107.2 million) for 2014 and to £106.8 million (from £113.9 million) for 2015.

StockMarketWire.com
Synthomer said in an IMS for the period July 1 to Nov. 6 that it has performed broadly in line with the board's expectations since the last update provided at the interim results in August. "In Europe, where we have seen no material improvement in market conditions to date, we continue to expect second half operating profit to be lower than the first half of the year," it said.

"This will reflect the impact of normal seasonal factors and is expected to deliver ENA (Europe and North America) profitability slightly below that achieved in the second half of the prior year," the company said.

"The board continues to expect Asia and ROW (Rest of World) operating profit in the second half to be in line with the first half, substantially ahead of the prior year," it said.

StockMarketWire.com
Synthomer has announced that Brendan Connolly is to join its Board as an independent non-executive director.

Mr Connolly was, until last June, a senior executive at Intertek Group and had previously been chief executive officer of Moody International which was acquired by Intertek in 2011.

Prior to this he spent more than 25 years of his career with Schlumberger in senior internationalroles over three continents.

Preliminary Results for the year ended 31 December 2013

RESILIENT PERFORMANCE IN A CHALLENGING YEAR

FULL YEAR HIGHLIGHTS

· Europe and North America (ENA) business impacted by continued weak economic conditions;

· 21% growth in underlying operating profit in Asia and ROW (ARW) driven by a continued recovery in the Asian nitrile business, which developed ahead of expectations in 2013;

· Significant investments in additional capacity and Emerging Markets, combined with continued focus on innovation;

· Continued progress driving efficiencies through plant capability improvements and raw material cost management;

· Group's executive management team strengthened with new regional VP's in Asia and Europe;

· Full year dividend increased by 9% to 6.0 pence on track with the Board's commitment to reduce dividend cover to three times by 2015; and

· Strong free cash flow; net debt reduced to £133.6 million (2012: £155.8 million); net debt / EBITDA ratio of 1.1 (2012: 1.2).

http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=4763885

StockMarketWire.com
JP Morgan Cazenove has downgraded its recommendation on speciality polymer producer Synthomer (LON:SYNT) to "underweight" from "neutral" after, what it described as, an impressive run and now views the shares as being fully valued. The broker pointed out that the shares have risen by 40 per cent over the past 12 months and reckons this provides existing investors with an ideal opportunity to take profits. Analysts went on to say: "We believe a combination of increasing competition, pricing pressure, heavy EM [emerging markets] exposure and currencies will lead to downgrades in 2014." JPMC also cut its price target to 230 pence per share (from 260 pence) On the flip side, Jefferies International reaffirmed its "buy" investment rating and increased its price target to 338 pence per share (from 305 pence) in a note to clients, on Friday.

Synthomer plc ("Synthomer" or "the Group") today issues its Interim Management Statement for the period 1 January to 30 April 2014.

Trading
We reported with our full year results in February that we had experienced slightly firmer demand in Europe across our Construction & Coatings, Functional Polymers and Performance Polymers segments. Encouragingly, this trend has continued, and as a result operating profit for the first quarter in our Europe and North America business (ENA) was ahead of the prior year, despite an adverse currency translation impact of £0.6M.

In our Asia and Rest of the World (ARW) business, volumes have continued to progress. However, recent substantial expansions by nitrile customers has led to excess glove capacity and aggressive competition between glove manufacturers. Combined with falling Butadiene prices this has resulted in destocking and short term pressure on nitrile margins. However, we expect on-going demand growth for nitrile latex and unit margins to firm as the year progresses.

The Group is currently developing plans for a further expansion of nitrile latex capacity, and expects to make an announcement in the next few months

Financial Position
Net debt increased over the first three months in line with normal seasonality. The Board has previously indicated it would move dividend cover to three times by 2015. However, in the light of the Group's current low leverage, and strong underlying cash flow generation, the Board is reviewing that policy with a view to increasing the planned level of returns to shareholders. Any revised dividend policy will be formally communicated to shareholders with the interim results.

Outlook
Whilst the start to the year in Europe has been encouraging, we remain cautious until these trends become more sustained. So far in 2014, Asia has performed below our expectations due to the competitive environment in the glove market. Although the overall Asia and ROW results may now be slightly weaker than our expectations at the start of the year, we believe the fundamental drivers for our business in the region remain strong.

The Board remains confident in the medium and long term outlook for the Group.

Synthomer will announce its Interim Results on Monday 11th August 2014.

StockMarketWire.com
Synthomer has continued to see similar trends to those seen during the first quarter of the year, which it highlighted at the time of its Interim Management Statement on 1 May 2014.

In Europe and North America, trading has continued in line with the first quarter of the year and our expectations. Volumes were ahead of the prior year in our Construction & Coatings, Functional Polymers and Performance Polymers segments, whilst average cash margins in the second quarter have remained similar to the first three months of 2014.

In Asia and Rest of the World, the strong competition between glove manufacturers that we reported at the time of our Q1 IMS in May has continued. This has caused ongoing margin pressure in our Nitrile business, exacerbated by weak Butadiene pricing and a related period of customer de-stocking.

This prolonged pressure means that operating profit for the first half of the year for Asia will be approximately £4m below our first half performance in 2013 (H1 2013: £11.5m). However, as the second half progresses we continue to expect demand for nitrile latex to grow and unit margins to firm.

In addition, sterling strengthened further during the period. As a result, we now expect currency translation to have an adverse impact on full year operating profit of approximately £5m, an increase of £1m over our original expectations, assuming no further change to current rates.

The result of weaker margins in our nitrile business and adverse currency translation means that we now expect full year profit before tax to be broadly in-line with the level achieved in 2013.

For Harry :-




Canaccord Genuity Buy 212.00 292.00 283.00 Reiterates

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Interim Results for the six months ended 30 June 2014

Continued progress in Europe with strong cash generation; interim dividend up 25%

· Europe and North America: Reported operating profit slightly down but 1.9% up on a constant currency basis, with higher volumes and cash margins firming from H2 2013 levels.

· Asia and ROW: Despite good progress on volumes, performance continued to be impacted by the competitive environment among glove manufacturers which depressed margins in the nitrile business.

· Strong cash generation reduced net debt to £114.6 million (FY 2013: £133.6 million).

· Updated dividend policy: 2.5 times dividend cover effective 2014; interim dividend increased by 25% to 3.0 pence.

Commenting on the results, Adrian Whitfield, Chief Executive Officer, said:

"Against challenging market conditions, particularly in our Asian nitrile business, Synthomer has delivered a solid performance in the first half of 2014, with Group volumes up 1.8%.

In Europe and North America, we saw improvements in demand across most business segments, and encouragingly, cash margins have firmed from the levels seen towards the end of 2013. In Asia and ROW, whilst we saw good progress with volumes increasing by 4.9% during the half, margins in our nitrile business continued to be impacted by the strong competition between glove manufacturers as previously reported. However, we expect nitrile unit margins to firm in the second half.

Given the strong cash generative nature of our business, the Board has today updated the Group's dividend policy, increasing the level of cash returns for shareholders.

We expect the improved demand in Europe to continue through the remainder of the year. In Asia, we expect continued growth in nitrile demand, and some firming in nitrile cash margins. Together with the impact of currency, we expect full year underlying profit before tax to be broadly in line with the level achieved in 2013."

StockMarketWire.com
Synthomer said at present run rates and given the current demand environment in Europe it expects FY pretax profit will be slightly below current consensus.

A company-compiled consensus for FY 2014 pretax profit was £87.8m, within a broader range of £81.3m-£90.3m.

"We are cautious about performance in Europe given recent economic developments, and should this impact demand further than currently anticipated in the fourth quarter, then profit-before-tax is likely to be around the lower end of the current consensus range," the company said in a statement.

At its interims, Synthomer reported firmer demand in its European and North America (ENA) segment, particularly in construction.

"Unfortunately this improved demand trend has not persisted through the third quarter and volumes, excluding business that we deliberately exited in compounds as reported in half one, were down 3% in ENA," the company said in a statement.

"Despite this, unit cash margins continued to firm as a result of our active margin management strategy, and year-to-date average margins in ENA are now ahead of the 2013 average. However, on a local currency basis, as at the end of the third quarter, year-to-date operating profit was slightly down on the prior year.

"In our Asia and Rest of the World (ARW) segment, volumes increased by 1.3% in the quarter. Volumes have been impacted somewhat by our market activities to improve unit cash margins in the nitrile business, where we have made good progress. We remain positive about continuing demand growth in the nitrile latex market."

Goldman Sachs retains neutral on Synthomer, target cut from 260p to 250p.

StockMarketWire.com
Synthomer said it expects FY pretax profit to be in the middle of the current consensus range of £80.9m-£87.3m. It said FY trading and profitability has been in line with its expectations, as stated at the time of its IMS in October 2014.

"As anticipated, demand through November and December was weaker than the prior year in Europe due to an earlier than usual slowdown in end of year trading. Unit margins improved over these months as raw material prices declined," Synthomer said in a statement.

"In Asia, unit margins in nitrile continued to improve, with increased demand in the fourth quarter, helped by the success of new product launches.

"These new products are a result of the Group's ongoing investment in R&D and have faster manufacturing times which will create up to 50 ktes of additional nitrile capacity with some modest additional capital investment."

StockMarketWire.com
Synthomer's FY pretax profit slipped to £86.0m, from £90.1m. Total sales were £990.5m, from £1.05bn. Its total FY ordinary dividend rose to 7.8p a share, from 6.0p. It also proposed a special dividend of 7.8p, from nil.

Chairman Neil Johnson said:
"After a positive start to the year, the economy in Europe faltered, causing demand to weaken during the second half. In Asia, we saw the opposite, with a more intense competitive environment putting pressure on nitrile margins during the first half of the year, but an improving position during the second half.

"In the context of this challenging environment Synthomer has maintained its focus on cost control, product innovation, investment in R&D and capacity expansions in developing markets.

"We remain cautious on the European economy and its impact on demand, but some benefit from lower raw material prices may help offset any volume weakness.

"However, the weakness of the euro, will affect the translation of our European business results. In Asia, we expect to see an improved performance from nitrile given the continuing tightening in the supply demand position and improving margins. Overall, the Board is confident the Group is well positioned for future growth.

"I am delighted to welcome our new CEO Calum MacLean to the Board. His extensive expertise in our industry and track record of growing businesses will be invaluable and I look forward to working with him and taking Synthomer forward."

Ex-div 4th June 2015 (12.6p)

Synthomer plc ('Synthomer' or 'the Group') today issues a trading update for the first quarter ended March 31 2015.

Trading
Trading in the first quarter has been in line with the Board's expectations at the time of the full year 2014 results.

In our European and North American (ENA) business, volumes were slightly below the same period in 2014, where we experienced a good start to the year. We saw some modest margin benefit from declining raw material prices, and constant currency operating profit was slightly ahead of the prior year but behind on a reported basis, due to the weakness of the Euro.

We reported with our full year 2014 results that unit margins in our Asian nitrile business had firmed through the second half and demand had strengthened through the fourth quarter. Demand has remained strong through the first quarter of 2015 and we have seen a further improvement in margins. Consequently, our operating profit in our Asia and Rest of the World (ARW) segment was substantially ahead of the prior year.

The Group is currently developing plans for a further expansion of its nitrile latex capacity, and expects to make an announcement in the next few months.

Financial Position
Capital expenditure was low in the quarter, and the seasonal outflow of working capital was lower than usual, due to the impact of falling input costs. Together with the translation effect on euro denominated debt, this resulted in a reduction of net debt from the year end to below £100 million (December 2014 £112M million).

The Board announced at the time of the full year 2014 results that in line with its capital management policy, a special dividend of 7.8p per share, equivalent to £26.5 million which will be paid in July, along with the normal final dividend from 2014 of 4.8p per share.

Outlook
Europe is expected to remain challenging due to both the general economic environment and ongoing currency effects. In Asia we expect to continue to perform strongly due to the current demand and margin trends in nitrile. The Board remains confident in the medium and long term growth prospects for the Group.

Synthomer will announce its Interim Results on Tuesday 11th August 2015.

Jeffereies International reiterates buy on Synthomer, target raised from 338p to 375p.

StockMarketWire.com
Synthomer said overall the board's expectations for the FY remain unchanged. Looking forward to H2, the economic and currency challenges in Europe are expected to have a continued impact on performance.

"This will be offset by Asia and Rest of World where, despite some softening in market conditions at the end of the first half, we remain confident of a continued strong performance. Overall, the Board's expectations for the full year remain unchanged," it said.

Europe and North America
"In our Q1 trading update, we reported that volumes were slightly behind the same period in 2014. We continued to see a similar trend in Q2, with volumes lower than the prior period primarily due to weaker demand in our Paper and Carpets businesses.

"As expected, the small margin benefit we experienced in Q1 from declining raw material prices did not continue in Q2, as modest raw material price inflation returned.

"Overall, operating profit in our Europe and North America segment is marginally behind the prior period in local currency, further behind on a reported basis (H1 2014: £47.8m) due to the weak Euro and consequently slightly behind current market expectations.

Asia and Rest of World
"Our Asia and Rest of World segment has continued to experience both improved unit margins and strong demand similar to that seen in the first quarter, particularly in our Asian nitrile business. We have seen good volume growth and substantial margin growth, relative to the weaker performance in the first half of 2014.

"As a result, operating profit in our Asia and Rest of World segment for the first half of 2015 is materially ahead of the prior period (H1 2014: £7.3m) and current market expectations."

StockMarketWire.com
Synthomer has posted an H1 pretax profit of £51.3m, from £45.0m. Total sales were £468.7m, from £510.1m. Interim dividend was 3.2p a share, from 3.0p.

H1 Highlights:
· Robust operating performance in Europe and North America ('ENA'): Operating profit stable in constant currency when excluding prudent accrual of employee performance bonuses; o Good progress in Construction & Coatings, Functional Polymers and Foam markets compensating for challenging Paper and Carpet markets.

· Strong operating performance in Asia and Rest of the World ('ARW'): o Reflecting improved market conditions and successful innovation initiatives; o Volumes and margins rose significantly across all regions and markets relative to a weaker H1 2014.

· R&D: Continued focus on innovation with products launched in last 5 years representing 16% of sales.

· Good operational progress: Reorganised executive team to increase focus and accountability; this new executive team will relocate to an operational London HQ from September. The review to optimise the assets across the Group is underway and progressing well.

· Debt: Strong cash generation helped drive net debt lower to £77.2 million (31 December 2014: £112.1 million), before £42.8 million dividend payments on 3 July 2015.

· Earnings per share: Up 14.9% at 11.6p per share.

StockMarketWire.com
Synthomer said, overall, its FY expectations remain unchanged.

"Looking further ahead, in Europe and North America, our strategy continues to focus on innovation, margin improvement and tight cost control to drive performance. Consequently, we expect this segment to continue at similar volumes and margins through 2016," it said.

"As stated in our interim results, a number of Asian Nitrile producers, including Synthomer, have announced plans to increase capacity during the latter part of 2016 and early 2017.

"Whilst we are confident of continued growth in the market and strong demand going into next year, we expect this planned capacity increase to impact the supply/ demand balance during the second half of 2016 leading to similar net volumes and margins to 2015 for the year as a whole."

StockMarketWire.com
Synthomer has lifted its FY pretax profit to GBP953m, from GBP86.0m. Dividend was 8.6p a share, from 7.8p. Total sales, however, were lower at GBP894.0m, from GBP990.5m.

Chairman Neil Johnson described the 12-month period as an excellent one for the company.

"This result reflects favourable market conditions in our nitrile business in Asia and our ongoing strategic initiatives to invest in future growth through innovation, increased capacity and tight cost control.

"We have also benefitted from the stability and resilience of our businesses in Europe and North America.

"Looking forward, we remain confident that the Group is well placed to perform given the strategy that we have put in place. Our outlook for the ENA businesses remains cautious with overall volumes and unit margins continuing at similar levels through 2016.

"For ARW, which is heavily influenced by our Asian nitrile business, we are aware that a number of nitrile producers, including Synthomer, have announced plans to increase capacity during the latter part of 2016 and early 2017.

"Whilst we are confident of continued strong growth in demand from the nitrile glove manufacturers during 2016 and beyond, we expect this planned capacity increase to impact the supply/demand balance during the second half of 2016 leading to similar volumes and margins to 2015 for the year as a whole."

StockMarketWire.com
Synthomer has agreed to sell its dispersions business in South Africa to Ferro S.A. for a total of GBP13m.

In 2015 the business had a turnover of Rand 445 million and generated EBITDA of Rand 37 million. The sale is expected to complete during summer 2016 following receipt of regulatory approvals.

Separately, Synthomer announces the acquisition of HEXION Performance Adhesives & Coatings, a business of HEXION Inc., a global chemical company based in Columbus, Ohio in the USA.

The total consideration is USD226m, which is being funded from both existing cash resources and utilisation of additional credit facilities.

The acquisition is expected to complete during the summer 2016 following receipt of regulatory approvals and satisfaction of other closing conditions.

Berenberg today downgrades its investment rating on Synthomer (LON:SYNT) to hold (from buy) and raised its price target to 345p (from 315p).

StockMarketWire.com
Synthomer (SYNT) acquired HEXION Performance Adhesives & Coatings from HEXION.

Hexion PAC's business in China (representing approximately 1% of Hexion PAC's revenues) is subject to a deferred completion which is expected in Q3 2016.

The total consideration of $226 million (£157 million) was funded from both existing cash resources and utilisation of additional credit facilities.

The consideration was hedged at the time of the initial announcement on 21 March at an FX rate of £1:$1.44.

The acquisition of HEXION PAC significantly strengthens Synthomer's position in the performance adhesives and coatings market, offering access to new product technologies, customers and markets.

HEXION PAC is also highly complementary to Synthomer's existing business both geographically and in the markets in which it operates.

The completion of the acquisition will give Synthomer a stronger platform from which to continue its growth aspirations in the Speciality Coatings market.

TRADING UPDATE
The group confirms that its outlook for full year 2016 in constant currency remains unchanged and in line with the board's expectations.

FOREIGN CURRENCY
The Group is exposed to movements in foreign currency and the impact that this can have on the translation of its overseas earnings, particularly the Euro and the US dollar.

For guidance, given the current strengthening of the Euro and the dollar vs Sterling, a €0.01 and $0.01 increase in FX rates relative to Sterling are estimated to result in an improvement in the Sterling reported full year results by approximately £0.5m and £0.25m respectively.

StockMarketWire.com
Synthomer has improved its H1 pretax profit to £61.0m, from £51.3m, with dividend per share up at 3.5p a share, from 3.2p.

Group revenue totalled £446.2m, from £454.5m.

It described this as a solid performance and said its FY expectations were unchanged.

Chairman Neil Johnson said:
"This is an encouraging first half performance. It reflects continued improvement in our Europe and North America segment, where we have controlled costs and increased focus on R&D investment to drive growth of higher margin products, and another strong performance in our Asia and Rest of World business.

"In March, we acquired Hexion Performance Adhesives and Coatings, the Group's first transaction under the new management team. Hexion PAC significantly strengthens Synthomer's position in the performance adhesives and coatings market, offering access to new product technologies, customers and markets.

LOOKING AHEAD
"We remain cautiously optimistic for the Full Year. In Europe and North America, notwithstanding the Brexit vote and the ensuing unsettled economic outlook and currency markets, we expect to make continued progress.

"In Asia and Rest of World, consistent with our existing guidance, we expect average unit margins in our nitriles business to soften as the new nitrile production capacity is brought on line in H2, resulting in similar volumes and average unit margins for the year as a whole compared to 2015.

"Accordingly the Board's expectations for the full year, in constant currency, remain unchanged."

JP Morgan Cazenove today reaffirms its neutral investment rating on Synthomer (LON:SYNT) and raised its price target to 368p (from 285p).

StockMarketWire.com
Synthomer said it sees its FY 2016 pretax profit will be about £120m, and said in 2017 it expects to see resilient trading in Europe although the raw material and macroeconomic environments remain volatile.

In FY 2015, the company posted a pretax profit of £72.5m, according to London Stock Exchange's website.

The company said that due a stronger trading performance in Europe and a slower evolution of the Asian Nitrile dynamics during Q4, it now expects its FY 2016 performance on an underlying constant-currency basis to be ahead of the top end of current market expectations.

FY 2016 markets views were for a pretax profit of between £92.0m and £103.9m, with consensus at £98.3m.

"In addition, the group will also benefit from the translation effect related to the ongoing weakness of sterling," it said in a trading statement for the 12 months to Dec. 31, 2016.

"Average year-to-date forex rates were £1.22 and $1.35, and are expected to provide a translational benefit of approximately £12m for the full year," the company added.

"In reported currency, taking into account both these factors, the Board now anticipates that FY 2016 profit before tax will be approximately £120m."

StockMarketWire.com
Synthomer is acquiring Perstorp Oxo Belgium AB for an enterprise value of €78m, which will be fully funded from existing financial resources. It also posted an improved FY pretax profit.

"The acquisition of Perstorp Belgium represents another step forward in our strategy to continue to grow and develop Synthomer," said CEO Calum MacLean in a statement.

"The business is an excellent fit and provides increased access to new products and customers. We look forward to welcoming our new colleagues and integrating the business with Synthomer through the remainder of this year."

Meantime, Synthomer's FY pretax profit was £122.2m, from £95.3m, on revenue up to £1.04bn, from £870.1bn.

Final dividend was 7.8p a share, from 5.4p, taking the total to 11.3p, from 8.6p.

Synthomer said 2016 had been another strong year for the company, reflecting its strategy to grow the core business and invest in its platform for future growth.

"Both the Europe & North America and Asia & Rest of World segments delivered organic growth and our first bolt-on acquisition, PAC, made a strong contribution in the second half of the year," said chairman Neil Johnson.

"We also benefitted from favourable currency translation as a result of the weakening in Sterling."

Looking ahead, Synthomer expected to continue to see resilient trading in Europe, although the raw material and macroeconomic environments remained volatile.

Whilst we envisage our Asian Nitrile business will be further impacted by the introduction of the additional industry capacity in 2016, this will be partially offset by a full year of PAC and 10 months of Perstorp Belgium included in the 2017 results," he added.

"Despite these uncertainties and challenges, the Board's expectations remain unchanged from the trading update on 20 January and we remain confident in delivering long term growth in profitability and shareholder value."

Peel Hunt today reaffirms its add investment rating on Synthomer (LON:SYNT) and raised its price target to 500p (from 440p)

StockMarketWire.com
Synthomer said, overall, it continues to trade in line with directors' expectations, and its view for FY 2017 remains unchanged.

The Europe and North America segment delivered a solid performance with results ahead of Q1 2016.

"Overall performance of the Asia and Rest of World segment was in line with our expectations."

JP Morgan Cazenove today reaffirms its neutral investment rating on Synthomer (LON:SYNT) and raised its price target to 440p (from 368p).

StockMarketWire.com
Chemicals company Synthomer (SYNT) grew underlying profit before tax by 17.4%, or 10.8% on a constant currency basis, to £71.6m in the first half.

Revenue grew by 64.8% on a constant currency basis to £770.3 million.

There was strong volume growth of 30.8% in Europe and North America, but Asia and Rest of World fell 28.5%.

Underlying earnings per share grew 21.7% to 16.8p per share.

The interim dividend was increased by 5.7% to 3.7p.

Neil Johnson, chairman, said: "The positive impact of the 'bolt-on' acquisitions, Europe and North America continuing to grow in line with GDP and positive currency translation more than offset the anticipated margin pressure in the Nitrile Latex market in Asia and Rest of the World, leading to a 17.4% increase in underlying profit before tax.

"Looking ahead, we continue to focus on driving sustainable growth, through capital investment projects, R&D and business efficiency programmes. We also continue to evaluate acquisition opportunities and will remain highly disciplined in our selection criteria. Accepting the second half seasonality inherent in our markets, and in the absence of any currency benefit in the second half, the board's expectations for the full year remain unchanged."

StockMarketWire.com
Synthomer, a specialty chemicals company, has acquired the BASF Austrian SBR business and assets.

The enterprise value of €30 million will be fully funded from existing resources. The business produces styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) used in the paper industry, notably in packaging end-markets. It operates from one site in Pischelsdorf, Austria.

The acquisition will enhance Synthomer's SBR business and production network for paper/packaging applications as well as increase the group's access to new opportunities across Europe.

The acquisition is expected to complete early in 2018 following receipt of regulatory approvals and satisfaction of other closing conditions.

Calum MacLean, chief executive officer of Synthomer, said: "This is another bolt-on acquisition that represents an excellent fit for Synthomer. It underscores our long term commitment to our customers in the paper industry, whilst providing us with an additional site to strengthen our network and stronger access to growing packaging end-markets in Europe. We look forward to welcoming our new colleagues and integrating the business into our European network in the first half of next year."

Peel Hunt today upgrades its investment rating on Synthomer (LON:SYNT) to buy (from add) and raised its price target to 550p (from 500p).

StockMarketWire.com
Synthomer said its expectations for the full year remained unchanged, underpinned by "resilient trading" in Europe.

The Asian nitrile market, meanwhile, is continuing to evolve as expected, the chemicals company said.

During the third quarter, the company said reported volumes and unit margins at its European business were in line with the same period last year.

In Asia and the rest of the world, volumes were flat versus the same period last year, though unit margins were lower than the 2016 third quarter but remained in line with the first half of 2017.

Berenberg today reaffirms its buy investment rating on Synthomer (LON:SYNT) and raised its price target to 570p (from 525p).

JP Morgan Cazenove today reaffirms its neutral investment rating on Synthomer (LON:SYNT) and raised its price target to 475p (from 440p).

StockMarketWire.com
Synthomer has completed the acquisition of the BASF Austrian SBR business and assets.

The enterprise value of €30 million was fully funded from existing resources. The business produces styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) used in the paper industry, notably in packaging end-markets. The business operates from one site in Pischelsdorf, Austria.

StockMarketWire.com
Synthomer grew its revenues by 42% to a record £1,480.2m in 2017, helped by acquisitions, higher average raw material prices and favourable currency translation.

Organic growth from its investment in the Europe and North America (ENA) segment more than compensated for the reduced, but stable, Nitrile latex margins in the Asia and Rest of the World (ROW) segment.

Volumes were higher by 9% to 1,443.8ktes with the increase reflecting a combination of underlying growth and additional volumes from Oxo Belgium (Speciality Additives), which was fully integrated during 2017.

Underlying profit before tax increased from £122.2m to £130.0m, an increase of 6.4% and 3.0% on a constant currency basis. The rise in underlying profit before tax reflects volume and margin growth, the contribution made by Speciality Additives and the depreciation in Sterling.

IFRS profit before tax decreased from £136.7m to £86.4m mainly as a result of one-off items of income in 2016 including the profits on the Malaysian land sales (£33.2m).

Neil Johnson, chairman, said: "The group's solid performance in 2017 reflects both the benefits of recent bolt-on acquisitions made in 2016 and 2017 and continued organic growth in our Europe and North America segment. This progress has more than offset the expected impact of lower Nitrile latex margins in our Asia and Rest of World segment.

"Looking forward, whilst acknowledging the ongoing challenges in our Nitrile latex and constructions and coatings Dispersions markets, we are confident of making further solid progress in 2018, underpinned by underlying growth in both segments, and from integrating our recent acquisitions.

"With our significant organic investment in new capacity being commissioned in late 2018, we remain confident in continuing to deliver growth in profitability and driving further value for shareholders in future years.

Barclays Capital today reaffirms its overweight investment rating on Synthomer (LON:SYNT) and raised its price target to 580p (from 560p).

StockMarketWire.com
Synthomer, the chemicals business, is trading in line with its expectations after a solid performance from its Europe and North America segment in the first quarter ended 31 March 2018.

In Europe and North America, volumes were higher than the comparative period predominantly reflecting the positive impact of the Speciality Additives and Pischelsdorf SBR latex acquisitions.

Unit margins were marginally lower mainly due to the transactional impact of European sales denominated in US dollars.

The Asia and Rest of World segment remained stable with performance in line with expectations. Nitrile latex volumes were marginally higher than a weaker comparative period when customer spending was impacted by the volatile raw material environment.

Unit margins were broadly in line with Q1 2017.

Synthomer said it remains cautiously optimistic on the continued Nitrile latex demand growth and margin development.

Net debt increased from £180m at the year end to £246m at 31 March 2018. This reflected the completion of the acquisition of the BASF Austrian SBR business and assets in Pischelsdorf for €29m (£25m) in January and seasonal working capital movements which was impacted by a rising raw material price environment.

Peel Hunt today reaffirms its buy investment rating on Synthomer (LON:SYNT) and raised its price target to 670p (from 550p).

StockMarketWire.com
Polymer producer Synthomer said it was being investigated by the European Commission in relation to its purchase of the chemical styrene monomer.

The investigation involved a number of companies operating in the European Economic Area.

The Commission visited Synthomer's London office this week as part of the investigation.

'The company takes competition laws very seriously and will continue to fully cooperate with the Commission throughout its investigation,' Synthomer said

Deutsche Bank today reaffirms its buy investment rating on Synthomer (LON:SYNT) and raised its price target to 630p (from 565p).

StockMarketWire.com
Chemicals group Synthomer said it had refinanced its existing bank facilities via an offering of €300m worth of seven-year unsecured senior notes and a new €300m four-year revolving credit facility.

The proceeds would be used, together with cash on hand, to repay all amounts outstanding under the company's existing revolving credit facility and term loan.

The proposed refinancing would provide more financial flexibility and, in relation to the notes, an 'attractive' fixed-rate interest rate over the next seven years.

'The group's strategy for further continued profitable growth is expected to be supported with this efficient capital structure, Synthomer said.

StockMarketWire.com
Plastics supplier Synthomer posted a 6.4% rise in first-half profit after growth in sales volumes offset a slight reduction in margins.

Pre-tax profit for the six months through June rose to £76.2m, was revenue rose 8.2% to £833.8m.

On a constant currency basis, pre-tax profit and revenue rose 4.3% and 6.4%, respectively.

The company increased its interim dividend to 4.0p per share, up from 3.7p on-year.

'Synthomer has had a good first six months of the year, reporting a further increase in underlying profit, underpinned by our geographic and product diversity alongside the group's strategy of driving organic growth and investing in bolt-on acquisitions,' chairman Neil Johnson said.

'Notwithstanding ongoing political and economic uncertainty, the group's diversified business means we are well placed to make continued progress and the board's expectations for the full year remain unchanged.'

In the first half, the company said it notched good volume growth in Europe and North America, though unit margins were slightly softer due to a US dollar transaction headwind of around £5m.

Total volumes rose 9.1% to 796.6k tonnes.

Deutsche Bank today reaffirms its buy investment rating on Synthomer (LON:SYNT) and raised its price target to 640p (from 630p).

StockMarketWire.com
Chemicals group Synthomer said its expectations for the full year remained unchanged after third-quarter volumes in the US and Europe fell but margins improved.

The company also announced a restructure, effective 1 January, that would see it create three business units: performance elastomers, functional solutions and specialities.

In the three months through September, volumes in Europe and North America were slightly lower on-year, excluding volumes associated with the recently-acquired Pischelsdorf business.

Unit margins, however, were slightly higher, with all segments apart from paper rising, reflecting further investment and increased efficiencies.

In Asia and the rest of the world, the company said nitrile latex volumes were slightly ahead of a strong comparative period.

Unit margins were also higher and in line with unit margins in the first half of 2018.

'Synthomer's product and geographic diversity means that we are well positioned to withstand the challenging macroeconomic and political environment and, along with the good performance in the first nine months of the year, the board's expectations for full year 2018 remain unchanged,' the company said.

Deutsche Bank today reaffirms its buy investment rating on Synthomer (LON:SYNT) and cut its price target to 500p (from 645p).