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."

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

Oversold?

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."