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."

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).