REG - Synthomer PLC - Interim results
Tue 07:02
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RNS Number : 9252T Synthomer PLC 05 August 2025
Synthomer plc
Interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2025
Continued earnings growth in subdued markets
Six months ended 30 June H1 2025 H1 2024 Constant currency(1)
Change
£m £m % %
Continuing operations(2)
Revenue 925.2 1,025.6 (9.8)% (8.8)%
Coatings & Construction Solutions (CCS) 34.5 53.0 (34.9)% (34.2)%
Adhesive Solutions (AS) 35.4 21.9 +61.6% +64.8%
Health & Protection and Performance Materials (HPPM) 16.6 13.5 +23.0% +21.5%
Corporate (8.7) (13.7)
EBITDA(3) 77.8 74.7 +4.1% +5.4%
EBITDA margin (%) 8.4% 7.3%
Underlying(4) operating profit (EBIT) 28.3 28.2 +0.4% +2.5%
Statutory operating loss (EBIT) (1.0) (2.9)
Results from continuing and discontinued operations(2)
Underlying(4) profit before tax 1.3 2.5
Statutory loss before tax (36.9) (33.2)
Underlying(4) EPS (p) (3.6) 1.3
Basic EPS (p) (25.5) (18.8)
Free Cash Flow(5) (30.3) (31.2)
Net debt(6) 638.3 560.6
· Self-help actions including robust pricing drive further gross
margin, EBITDA and EBITDA margin progress in constant currency
− Continuing Group EBITDA +5.4% in constant currency with margin +110bps
vs H1 2024
− Self-help of c.£17m cost and reliability improvements in period;
additional cost programme implemented
− Gross margin +110bps vs H1 2024 and +400bps over three years,
reflecting speciality strategy focus
− Adhesive Solutions continues to regain share and enhance margins;
Health & Protection benefited from mix in the period; Coatings &
Construction Solutions was more varied, with relatively stable consumer and
improving construction offset by less oil and gas drilling activity affecting
the energy solutions segment
· Lower volume and revenue reflects increased end-market demand
volatility following recent tariff developments
− Limited direct exposure to new tariffs across Group, largely being
offset through surcharges
− Tariff changes however resulted in greater customer demand volatility
in Q2, improving in June after slowing in May, with Continuing Group volume
(7.1)% vs H1 2024
− (8.8)% continuing revenue in constant currency, from volumes and
pass-through of lower raw material prices
· Net debt increased in period due to usual seasonal cash flow profile;
balance sheet derisking continues
− Net debt increased in H1 2025 as expected, reflecting typical seasonal
net working capital patterns, capital expenditure phasing and FX translation;
non-recurring cash outflows reduced significantly as expected
− Covenant net debt: EBITDA ratio of 4.8x as at end June; £430m+ in
committed liquidity prior to £129m repayment of the remaining 2025 bonds in
early July; covenants relaxed until end of 2026
· Additional steps taken to advance the strategic transformation of
portfolio
− William Blythe divestment completed in May and further plant
rationalisation in period - reached strategic milestone of less than 30
manufacturing sites globally (down from 43 in 2022)
− Other non-core sale processes advancing, with broadening of divestment
programme under review
− Additional profit opportunities secured through US medical glove
technology partnership
− New speciality adhesive investment in US onstream since mid-July
− Focused innovation and capital deployment into key opportunities
maintained - including Middle East growth, lower carbon and circular adhesives
for FMCG markets, bio-based feedstocks for gloves market
· 2025 outlook: Expect some earnings progress and broadly neutral Free
Cash Flow
− On track to deliver previously identified £25-30m in annual self-help
and strategy benefits for 2025, which supports expected progress over
Continuing Group EBITDA of £143.1m in 2024
− c.£9m in H2 from newly-implemented £20-25m cost reduction programme
is expected to mitigate more subdued end-market demand for the remainder of
year from trade tensions
Commenting, Synthomer CEO Michael Willome said:
"We have delivered gross margin improvement and EBITDA growth in the period
despite the challenging environment in our markets. Our 'in region for region'
manufacturing strategy positions us well to weather a more protectionist trade
environment while continuing to serve our customers. Given demand in our end
markets has become more uncertain, we have stepped up our focus on what we can
control - launching an additional cost reduction programme, taking further
steps in the transformation of the portfolio and allocating resources even
more rigorously to prioritise derisking the balance sheet.
"We have clear plans in place to navigate the current geopolitical and
tariff-related uncertainties in our markets, and remain confident in our
objective to double Synthomer's recent earnings levels in the medium term. We
have a strong track record of delivering 'self-help' cost actions and are
pushing on with our strategy of creating a more focused portfolio of
market-leading speciality products with sustainable, differentiated benefits
for end-users around the world. We continue to reallocate capital towards
those end markets which we believe will benefit most as demand recovers from
recent lows, as European infrastructure and construction spending improves,
housing market activity levels increase, the supply side for US disposable
gloves evolves following the 2024 tariff changes, and governments look to
support manufacturing activity and moderate energy costs."
A webcast presentation for analysts and investors will take place at 9:00am
BST today, accessible via our website at www.synthomer.com
(http://www.synthomer.com) or on https://brrmedia.news/SYNT_HY25
(https://brrmedia.news/SYNT_HY25) . This will also be available for playback
after the event.
Further information:
Investors: Faisal Tabbah, Vice President Investor Relations Tel: +44 (0) 1279 775 306
Media: Nick Hasell, FTI Consulting Tel: +44 (0) 203 727 1340
Notes
(1.) Constant currency revenue and profit measures retranslate current
year results using the prior year's average exchange rates.
(2.) William Blythe, which contributed revenue of £28.9m and EBITDA of
£3.6m in H1 2025 (H1 2024: £25.4m and £1.3m respectively), was divested in
May 2025 and is classed as a discontinued operation throughout this
announcement. Laminates, Films and Coated Fabrics, North America Paper and
Carpet and the Compounds business have been classed as discontinued operations
in prior periods.
(3.) Operating profit before depreciation, amortisation and Special
Items.
(4.) Underlying performance excludes Special Items unless otherwise
stated.
(5) Free Cash Flow is defined as the movement in net debt before
financing activities, foreign exchange and the cash impact of Special Items,
asset disposals and business combinations.
(6.) Cash and cash equivalents together with short and long-term
borrowings.
(7.) Operating Cash Flow is defined as Total Group EBITDA plus/minus net
working capital movement less capital expenditure.
Legal Entity Identifier (LEI): 213800EHT3TI1KPQQJ56. Classification as per DTR
6 Annex 1R: 1.2.
Synthomer plc is a leading supplier of high-performance, highly specialised
polymers and ingredients that play vital roles in key sectors such as
coatings, construction, adhesives, and health and protection - growing markets
for customers who serve billions of end users worldwide. Headquartered in
London, UK and listed there since 1971, we employ c.3,900 employees across our
five innovation centres of excellence and 29 manufacturing sites across
Europe, North America, Middle East and Asia. With more than 6,000 blue-chip
customers and £2.0bn in continuing revenue in 2024, our business is built
around three divisions, serving customers in attractive end markets where
demand is driven by global megatrends including urbanisation, demographic
change, climate change and sustainability, and shifting economic power.
In Coatings & Construction Solutions, our specialist polymers enhance the
sustainability and performance of a wide range of coatings and construction
products. We serve customers in applications including architectural and
masonry coatings, mortar modification, waterproofing and flooring, fibre
bonding, and energy solutions. In Adhesive Solutions our products help our
customers bond, modify and compatibilise surfaces and components for
applications including tapes and labels, packaging, hygiene, tyres and plastic
modification, improving permeability, strength, elasticity, damping,
dispersion and grip. In Health & Protection and Performance Materials we
are a world-leading supplier of water-based polymers for medical gloves, and a
major European manufacturer of high-performance binders, foams and other
products serving customers in a range of end markets.
Our purpose is creating innovative and sustainable solutions for the benefit
of customers and society. Around 20% of our sales volumes are from new and
patent protected products. At our innovation centres of excellence in the UK,
China, Germany, Malaysia and Ohio, USA we collaborate closely with our
customers to develop new products and enhance existing ones tailored to their
needs, with an increasing range of sustainability benefits. Our 2030
decarbonisation targets have been approved by the Science Based Targets
initiative as being in line with what the latest climate science says is
necessary to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement, and since 2021 we have
held the London Stock Exchange Green Economy Mark, which recognises green
technology businesses making a significant contribution to a more sustainable,
low-carbon economy. Find us at www.synthomer.com (http://www.synthomer.com) or
search for Synthomer on LinkedIn.
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER'S REVIEW
We delivered earnings growth in H1 2025 against a challenging market
environment and a strong period last year. While our 'in region for region'
manufacturing strategy means we face limited direct tariff impact, the ongoing
uncertainties around the global trade environment create volatility in
end-market demand. We continue to focus on managing our costs and our balance
sheet to ensure we emerge from this turbulent period for our industry in a
strong position.
Earnings growth delivered, supported by self-help
Continuing Group revenue and volumes decreased by 8.8% and 7.1% respectively
in the period. Through Q1 both were broadly in line with a strong prior year
period, but demand conditions became considerably more volatile from the start
of the second quarter following the announcement of new US tariffs, the
responses from other governments and the subsequent US tariff adjustments.
Across many of our markets, customers have become more cautious, with smaller
order sizes and a clear 'wait and see' attitude; at the same time there is
limited evidence of pre-buying ahead of tariff increases, and customers in
many markets indicate inventories are low.
Notwithstanding these demand (and foreign exchange translation) headwinds, we
were able to deliver some EBITDA and margin progress in constant currency in
the period. On a Continuing Group basis, EBITDA increased 5.4% in constant
currency to £77.8m (H1 2024: £74.7m), resulting in an EBITDA margin of 8.4%
(H1 2024: 7.3%). This progress is supported by robust pricing, lower operating
costs reflecting c.£17m in cost efficiency, reliability improvement and other
'self-help' programmes in the period, as well as lower bonus accrual than in
H1 2024.
Given the ongoing uncertainties in our markets, we have extensively reviewed
our operating and capital expenditures, and working capital balances, to
identify additional savings opportunities within our control. We have also
undertaken a thorough review of our headcount in line with our strategy and
the transformation of our company, which has resulted in a decision to remove
around 250 roles globally from the organisation. This new operating cost
reduction programme is expected to deliver c.£20-25m in benefits on an annual
run-rate basis by 2026, with around £9m of benefits in the second half of
2025, mainly in the CCS division and in SG&A functions. These actions are
in addition to the previously identified £25-30m in expected gross benefits
from delivering our self-help and strategic plans in 2025 and will help to
derisk achievement of our financial objectives in what we expect to remain a
subdued demand environment.
Robust divisional performances in tough markets
The strongest divisional progress in the period was achieved by the Adhesive
Solutions (AS) division, which continues to reap the benefits of our
successful performance improvement programme, with improved reliability and
cost efficiency sustaining further margin expansion despite the subdued demand
environment. The AS team has also taken some encouraging steps to support
future growth, such as the investment to increase APO capacity in Texas which
came onstream slightly behind schedule in July.
The Health & Protection and Performance Materials (HPPM) division also
made EBITDA progress despite near-term volumes not yet benefiting from its
customers' increased competitiveness in the US medical glove market following
the tariff changes announced in mid-2024 and implemented in January 2025.
Sales of higher-margin reusable gloves and new income for some additional
services provided to our US technology partner also helped earnings in the
period.
Our Coatings & Construction Solutions (CCS) division faced much more mixed
market conditions in the period, particularly following the US tariff
announcements. Relatively stable consumer and an improving construction
performance in Europe was more than offset by less oil and gas drilling
activity globally, which significantly affected our high margin energy
solutions segment. Activity levels in the USA across most of the division's
segments were also generally muted, particularly in May. Cost reduction
programmes in the division which accelerate through the year are expected to
result in CCS' earnings being more balanced between the first and second
halves in 2025 than is typical.
Net debt higher in period due to usual seasonal cash flow profile; balance sheet derisking continues
Net debt of £638.3m (H1 2024: £560.6m, FY 2024: £597.0m) was broadly in
line with our expectations. Each year activity levels and hence net working
capital balances increase significantly between the year end and the mid-year
point. In the period this seasonal cash flow profile, the phasing of capital
expenditure and translation of foreign currency debt was only partially offset
by an increase in net receivables financing utilisation, William Blythe
divestment proceeds and lower tax, pension and other cash outflows. Free Cash
Flow of £(30.3)m for the first half was slightly ahead of the prior year
period (H1 2024: £(31.2)m). We expect positive Free Cash Flow for the second
half of the year, with a reduced capital expenditure budget, seasonal and
structural improvements in working capital and lower pension and tax outflows
than prior year all expected to contribute to broadly neutral Free Cash Flow
for 2025 as a whole.
The Group's net debt: EBITDA for the purposes of the leverage ratio covenant
increased from 4.6x at 31 December 2024 to 4.8x at 30 June 2025, within the
required covenant. Alongside our operational focus on cash, the Group's
financial position continues to be derisked. The recent covenant relaxation
agreement with our banking syndicate extends the period of additional headroom
through 2026 in the event of a more drawn-out recovery in demand. The net
debt:EBITDA covenant ratios required under the Group's Revolving Credit
Facility and the UK Export Finance facilities have been increased from not
more than 4.75x in December 2025, 3.5x in June 2026 and 3.25x in December 2026
to 5.25x, 4.5x and 4.25x respectively.
The Group's committed liquidity at 30 June 2025 was in excess of £430m,
reducing by £129m immediately after the period end following repayment of the
stub 2025 bonds, and our next significant debt maturity is now in July 2027.
Advancing the strategic transformation of the portfolio
In the period we made further progress with the speciality solutions strategy
we launched in October 2022, alongside our sustained focus on generating cash
flow and reducing leverage. Supported by our strategic and operational focus
on speciality products, we have improved the Group's gross margin by more than
400bps since H1 2022.
Portfolio management
In May we completed the divestment of William Blythe Limited, our non-core
inorganic chemicals business, to its management team alongside H2 Equity
Partners. The William Blythe divestment included a large manufacturing site in
Lancashire, UK, and we also reorganised our antioxidants production activity
in China, closing a small plant in Ningbo in the period as a result. Through
these actions, we achieved an important milestone of the new strategy in
October 2022: our global manufacturing footprint has now been successfully
reduced from 43 to below 30, simplifying and increasing the focus of the
business while reducing capital intensity.
We have two other formal non-core divestment processes currently underway, and
are giving consideration to broadening the divestment programme in order to
accelerate the Group's deleveraging and focus the business portfolio further.
Innovation and sustainability
Notwithstanding recent market uncertainties, the Group remains committed to
building and leveraging its intellectual property and know-how, embedded
customer relationships and other intangible assets for long-term value
creation.
In the period the AS division delivered a number of innovative projects
relating to lower carbon and circular economy adhesive products for customers,
including a novel whole-value-chain partnership with Henkel which leverages
Synthomer's new CLIMA brand for certified lower carbon products.
The CCS division launched a number of new products for the construction
segment in the period and is at the customer sampling stage for many more
across the portfolio intended for formal launch in the second half.
Health & Protection leveraged its strengths as a global market leader in
NBR manufacturing with significant technology and manufacturing expertise to
develop a bio-based nitrile latex offering for customers in partnership with
Neste and PCS.
Meanwhile we were encouraged by a further four-point improvement in our annual
Net Promotor Score survey of our customers completed in March 2025. Detailed
survey data by business line and region is being used by our teams globally to
improve our product offering for customers.
In June we retained our silver rating in EcoVadis' annual sustainability
assessment, which is awarded to the top-performing 15% of all companies
assessed, and with an advanced rating for carbon management.
Outlook
Our strategy of manufacturing close to our customers globally substantially
mitigates our direct exposure to recent tariff announcements, which to-date we
are largely offsetting through surcharges. At the same time, tariff changes
and geopolitical tensions have made end-market demand more unpredictable,
particularly in the USA, which represented approximately 25% of our 2024
revenue.
In light of this, we now expect to deliver some earnings progress in 2025
compared with Continuing Group EBITDA of £143.1m in 2024, and for a positive
cash performance in the second half to result in Free Cash Flow to be broadly
neutral for the year as a whole. We expect our newly-implemented cost
reduction programme (over and above the previously-identified self-help and
strategic plans) to mitigate the more subdued end-market demand conditions
that we expect to persist for the remainder of year.
In the medium term, we remain committed to our ambition to double Synthomer's
earnings, through a combination of continued self-help actions, end-market
volume recovery and strategic delivery.
Michael Willome
Chief Executive Officer
5 August 2025
DIVISIONAL REVIEW - CONTINUING OPERATIONS
Coatings & Construction Solutions (CCS)
CCS faced a very mixed demand environment across its end markets in the
period, with energy solutions products in particular affected by a slowdown in
oil and gas drilling activity. In response, our most speciality-focused
division has initiated further cost efficiency measures while continuing to
invest in its long-term profitable growth opportunities.
Six months ended 30 June H1 2025 H1 2024 Change Constant currency(1)
£m £m % %
Revenue 372.5 430.4 (13.5)% (12.2)%
Volumes (ktes) 254.2 271.8 (6.5)%
EBITDA 34.5 53.0 (34.9)% (34.2)%
EBITDA % of revenue 9.3% 12.3%
Operating profit - underlying 22.2 40.6 (45.3)% (45.1)%
Operating profit - statutory 9.3 31.0
(1) Constant currency revenue and profit retranslate current year
results using the prior year's average exchange rates.
Performance
Divisional revenue decreased by 12.2% in constant currency to £372.5m (H1
2024: £430.4m), driven by a 6.5% decrease in volume compared with H1 2024,
changes in mix and lower pricing, reflecting pass-through of raw material
costs. The first half of the prior year was a very strong period for our
high-margin energy solutions business, which began to see a reprofiling of
orders from certain key customers in the second half of 2024, with changes in
oil and gas drilling activity resulting in overstocking. This weakness has
persisted through the current period as customer inventories normalise.
Activity levels in our coatings and consumer end markets were volatile during
the second quarter, with increased caution and smaller order sizes from
customers particularly in the US, following the global tariff changes. By
contrast, our performance in the construction segment has begun to show modest
signs of improvement mainly in European markets, albeit from low levels.
Divisional gross margin performance was similarly mixed, with a strong
improvement in construction reflecting new products and relatively stable
performances in coatings and consumer segments being offset by energy
solutions. However, mix effects and negative operating leverage to the lower
volumes affected EBITDA and margin. CCS generated £34.5m of EBITDA (H1 2024:
£53.0m) in the period, equating to an EBITDA margin of 9.3% (H1 2024: 12.3%).
CCS launched a number of cost reduction initiatives in the period which are
expected to accelerate in the second half of the year. Typically the most
seasonally weighted of our divisions, we expect these cost actions to help
make CCS' EBITDA contribution more balanced between the first and second half
this year.
Strategy
In response to market conditions, we have accelerated and reprioritised a
number of our asset optimisation projects and other cost and capacity
management activities, including temporarily idling excess capacity, reducing
shift patterns and undertaking a broader review of operating costs including
headcount. The division is also implementing a number of inventory management
measures to enhance cash flow.
Alongside these critical near-term actions, we continue to develop our
opportunities for future value creation with projects that enhance our organic
growth capability. In particular, we are embedding a more end-market aligned
approach, with key account management and value selling, allowing us to
leverage our leading market positions in niche European markets into other
markets globally. In the period the Group's customer relationship management
system was upgraded, with the new Software as a Service implementation
supported by the experience and expertise built up by CCS in key account
management in recent years.
In line with our more value-based approach to innovation, our investments are
becoming more end-customer focused and faster to market with new and often
more sustainable products, with construction benefitting in the first half and
a number of bio-based launches expected in coatings in the second.
Even as we focus on cost and capital efficiency, we continue to find the means
to support key growth opportunities, including the localisation of certain
products in our USA plants which were previously only imported from Europe, as
well as leveraging the new China Innovation Centre to win additional business.
Adhesive Solutions (AS)
Underlying market conditions remained subdued but solid progress on cost and
reliability improvement and an increasing focus on global growth initiatives
continues to drive earnings and margin momentum in the division.
Six months ended 30 June H1 2025 H1 2024 Change Constant currency(1)
£m £m % %
Revenue 298.4 308.7 (3.3)% (1.4)%
Volumes (ktes) 137.8 140.3 (1.8)%
EBITDA 35.4 21.9 +61.6% +64.8%
EBITDA % of revenue 11.9% 7.1%
Operating profit - underlying 19.2 5.2 +269.2% +275.0%
Operating profit/(loss) - statutory 8.9 (8.6)
(1) Constant currency revenue and profit retranslate current year
results using the prior year's average exchange rates.
Performance
Divisional revenue decreased 1.4% in constant currency to £298.4m (H1 2024:
£308.7m), broadly in line with the overall volume performance in the period.
The division experienced a slowing in demand in Q2, with customers responding
cautiously to the announcement of global tariff changes. In addition, an
operational shutdown at one of the division's sites in Texas, USA led to
temporary constraints in deliveries of a speciality product to customers.
Overall the division demonstrated resilient pricing and gross margin progress
in the period, led by the speciality product areas (c.60% of AS revenue in the
period), while some base product areas remain under ongoing pricing pressure
from global competitors. Divisional revenue was resilient in the USA and
China, but slower in Europe in the period. From an end-market perspective,
tapes and labels had a robust period while packaging and tyre revenues were
more subdued.
Within the division, speciality products continue to build a differentiated
innovation and geographic opportunity pipeline with customers. In our more
base chemical products we remain focused on further reliability improvements
for our customers and on improving our cost competitiveness.
Divisional EBITDA increased by 64.8% in constant currency to £35.4m (H1 2024:
£21.9m), with EBITDA margin rising to 11.9% (H1 2024: 7.1%). This was
principally due to lower operating costs, including from the reliability and
performance improvement programme put in place in July 2023 by the incoming
divisional management team. This delivered a further £5m in benefits in the
period.
Strategy
Over the last two years the division has prioritised the dedicated performance
improvement programme, which has succeeded in transforming the adhesive resin
business acquired in 2022. By reducing costs and improving end-to-end
operations, from supplier network improvement to production site efficiency
and delivery logistics, the programme has enabled improvements in reliability
for customers and achieved c.£30m in cumulative benefits to date. The
programme continues, targeting a total of at least £35m in cumulative
benefits by the end of 2026.
In the first half of 2025, the division also made progress with a number of
strategic growth initiatives designed to build on our leading positions in a
range of speciality adhesive applications in attractive end markets and our
multi-year relationships with many high-quality customers, supported by a
global production network and comprehensive technology and service platform.
For example, in April we announced a strategic partnership and supply
agreement with Henkel, focused on enabling carbon emission reductions in its
hot melt adhesive product portfolio. This partnership approach to
whole-value-chain sustainability improvements follows our recent launch of
CLIMA-branded products, which deliver at least a 20% reduction cradle-to-gate
in certified product carbon footprint, supported by our investment in ISCC
PLUS certification of our major manufacturing sites and other innovations.
In line with Group strategy, the majority of our investment for future growth
aims to strengthen our speciality portfolio. In the period our key investment
project to increase APO capacity at our Texas facility commenced a number of
weeks behind schedule due to third-party contractor issues, but has been
onstream and working well since July, and will contribute to divisional
earnings in the second half.
Meanwhile, in accordance with our differentiated steering strategy, in the
more volatile and competitive base product areas (c.40% of divisional revenue)
we continue to focus any investment on enhancing cost competitiveness or
reliability. Our project launched in 2024 to strengthen our supply chain for
hydrocarbon resin production in Europe is managed under contract by Dow at its
site in Böhlen, Germany, which is now scheduled for closure in Q4 2027. In
the period we identified and began implementing additional plans in Europe and
the USA to build on this successful project.
Health & Protection and Performance Materials (HPPM)
Health & Protection unit margins have benefited from favourable mix, but
near-term customer demand particularly for the USA market has been affected by
the running down of their global competitors' stocks which were purchased
ahead of tariffs announced in 2024. William Blythe was divested in May 2025
and our portfolio rationalisation plans continue to progress.
Six months ended 30 June (continuing)(1) H1 2025 H1 2024 Change Constant currency(2)
£m £m % %
Revenue 254.3 286.5 (11.2)% (11.6)%
Volumes (ktes) 270.6 301.3 (10.2)%
EBITDA 16.6 13.5 +23.0% +21.5%
EBITDA % of revenue 6.5% 4.7%
Operating profit - underlying 1.2 0.4 +200.0% +250.0%
Operating loss - statutory (4.3) (5.0)
(1) Compounds and William Blythe businesses have been reclassified as
discontinued operations.
(2 ) Constant currency revenue and profit retranslate current
year results using the prior year's average exchange rates.
Continuing divisional performance
Divisional revenue was £254.3m (H1 2024: £286.5m), driven by a 10.2%
decrease in volume and lower prices reflecting reduced raw materials costs.
Volumes in Health & Protection decreased by 15.5% compared to H1 2024 as
our latex glove manufacturing customers reacted to market developments in the
USA, where the announcement in summer 2024 of tariff increases on their global
competitors from 1 January 2025 drove some pre-buying activity. This is
expected to moderate in the second half as underlying hygiene demand growth
globally remains strong. Unit margins remain low by historical standards but
benefited in the period from mix effects as demand for higher margin material
for reusable gloves remained robust. In the period, we secured another income
stream for additional services from our multi-year technology partnership to
support growth in the onshore US glove market.
In our Performance Materials portfolio, volumes decreased by 6.0% as market
conditions for Acrylate Monomers and SBR for carpet and foam in Europe in
particular remained volatile and two manufacturing plants undertook extended
shutdowns during the period. Speciality Vinyl Polymers, Antioxidants and
European Paper activities were relatively more robust.
The division is making EBITDA and margin progress through operating cost
reductions including from further efficiency programmes as well as the closure
of a small manufacturing plant in China in June. Divisional EBITDA increased
by 21.5% in constant currency to £16.6m (H1 2024: £13.5m), an EBITDA margin
of 6.5% (H1 2024: 4.7%).
Strategy
Recognising much of the division has base chemicals characteristics, our
differentiated steering approach is to focus on improving cost efficiency
across our value chains while enhancing our overall value proposition to each
business' customers through selective investment in process and product
innovation and sustainability. An example is our partnership with suppliers
Neste and PCS to manufacture bio-based nitrile latex for the glove industry,
which was signed in the period, while our acrylate monomers business has
developed bio-based monomers for customers. We also have a number of projects
underway in the division which reduce the ISCC PLUS-certified carbon emissions
of our production processes, which confers sustainability benefits for
customers.
In our Health & Protection business we continue to focus on opportunities
to leverage our position as a global market leader in NBR manufacturing with
significant technology and manufacturing expertise. We are actively supporting
our customers as the latex glove demand environment evolves, particularly in
the USA as a result of tariff changes. We also continue to support our US
partner with further technology licensing and manufacturing expertise as they
work to begin construction of onshore US capacity for nitrile latex and glove
manufacture, and are actively exploring other potential partnership
opportunities for this business with little or no capital investment. The
division's growth potential is also beginning to benefit from Synthomer's new
China Innovation Centre.
In May 2025 we completed the divestment of William Blythe limited, our
non-core inorganic chemistry business, to its management team alongside H2
Equity Partners, for consideration of £30m. The transaction further reduces
the complexity of our site portfolio and enables greater focus of capital,
time and other resources on core operations.
In the period we continued to make progress on a range of other potential
portfolio rationalisation activities, as described elsewhere.
Safety
Maintaining our strong track record of overall safety performance receives a
high level of focus and diligence across the Group. In the first half we saw
an increase in safety incidents at a small number of sites and have
implemented local intervention plans in each of them to drive improvements.
We are proud of our safety performance while recognising that there is always
more to do, in particular to complete the process of bringing more recently
acquired sites up to the standards of safety achieved elsewhere in the
portfolio. Parts of the Group are now achieving consistently world-class
safety performance but there is broad scope to bring other facilities up to
these levels. In particular, three sites managed by CCS had a disappointing
period for safety incidents in the first half, which we are addressing with
bespoke local intervention plans at each site.
The overall Recordable Case Rate (RCR) for the Group remains good for our
industry, led by the AS division which has experienced no recordable injuries
to employees and contractors for 21 months. A significant amount of hard work
goes into continuously embedding, maintaining and strengthening the safety
systems and tools we have in place across the Group.
Although our overall Process Safety Event Rate (PSER) was good, and broadly in
line with prior period levels, there remains considerable variation between
the performances of the three divisions. Asset integrity issues and human
error together account for the majority of process safety events we
experience. The former are being addressed through our ongoing capital
expenditure programmes, while we have a human factor analysis programme in
place to address the latter. More broadly, we continue to focus primarily on
mitigating high potential-for-harm process safety incidents (where the Group's
performance improved in the period), while improving reporting of near-miss
and minor incidents which help us to focus our risk mitigation activities.
We also continue to monitor and evolve our approach to safety performance
improvements, focusing on both the headline 'lagging' indicators RCR and PSER
and also increasingly on several 'leading' indicators. We also maintain an
ongoing programme of deep dives into our change management processes on sites,
looking at strengthening our assessments and approvals processes, as well as
proactive checking of the status of our major accident hazard preventative
barriers.
Encouragingly, the longer-term SHE trends continue to demonstrate that the
more time sites spend on our SHE management system as part of Synthomer, the
better their performance. Our functional experts continue to support our newer
sites to help them accelerate their SHE improvement through strong systems and
by learning from others.
H1 2025 H1 2024 Change
Six months ended 30 June (continuing)
RCR per 100,000 hours for employees and contractors Absolute
CCS 0.40 0.24 +0.16
AS - - -
HPPM 0.13 - +0.13
Continuing Group 0.24 0.12 +0.12
PSER per 100,000 hours for employees and contractors Absolute
CCS 0.35 0.19 +0.16
AS 0.47 0.69 (0.22)
HPPM 0.07 0.13 (0.06)
Continuing Group 0.26 0.25 +0.01
FINANCIAL REVIEW
Group revenue, EBITDA and operating profit - continuing operations
Revenue for the continuing Group of £925.2m (H1 2024: £1,025.6m) decreased
by 8.8% in constant currency. This principally reflects a 7.1% decrease in
volume relative to the prior year, driven by volatile end-market demand
following recent tariff changes.
EBITDA for the continuing Group was £77.8m (H1 2024: £74.7m), with gross
margin improvement and lower costs driven mainly by our self-help actions.
Corporate costs decreased to £8.7m in the period (H1 2024: £13.7m), while
depreciation and amortisation was slightly higher at £49.5m (H1 2024:
£46.5m). As a result, underlying operating profit for the continuing Group
was £28.3m (H1 2024: £28.2m).
On a statutory basis, including the Special Items excluded from underlying
measures (see below), this resulted in an operating loss for the continuing
Group of £(1.0)m (H1 2024: £(2.9)m).
CCS AS HPPM Corp. Continuing Dis-continued Total Group
operations
Six months ended 30 June 2025, £m
Revenue 372.5 298.4 254.3 - 925.2 28.9 954.1
EBITDA 34.5 35.4 16.6 (8.7) 77.8 3.6 81.4
EBITDA % of revenue 9.3% 11.9% 6.5% 8.4% 8.5%
Operating profit - underlying 22.2 19.2 1.2 (14.3) 28.3 3.1 31.4
Operating profit/(loss) - statutory 9.3 8.9 (4.3) (14.9) (1.0) (5.8) (6.8)
Six months ended 30 June 2024, £m CCS AS HPPM Corp. Continuing Dis-continued Total Group
operations
Revenue 430.4 308.7 286.5 - 1,025.6 35.2 1,060.8
EBITDA 53.0 21.9 13.5 (13.7) 74.7 3.9 78.6
EBITDA % of revenue 12.3% 7.1% 4.7% 7.3% 7.4%
Operating profit - underlying 40.6 5.2 0.4 (18.0) 28.2 3.2 31.4
Operating profit/(loss) - statutory 31.0 (8.6) (5.0) (20.3) (2.9) (0.1) (3.0)
Full year ended 31 December 2024, £m CCS AS HPPM Corp. Continuing Dis-continued Total Group
operations
Revenue 790.5 588.4 554.2 - 1,933.1 63.5 1,996.6
EBITDA 85.9 47.9 33.0 (23.7) 143.1 6.1 149.2
EBITDA % of revenue 10.9% 8.1% 6.0% 7.4% 7.5%
Operating profit - underlying 60.6 15.0 6.1 (33.6) 48.1 4.7 52.8
Operating profit/(loss) - statutory 32.5 (9.5) (11.6) (37.6) (26.2) 0.3 (25.9)
Special Items - continuing operations
The following items of income and expense have been reported as Special Items
- continuing operations and have been excluded from EBITDA and other
underlying metrics:
Six months ended 30 June H1 2025 H1 2024 FY 2024
£m £m £m
Amortisation of acquired intangibles (22.3) (22.8) (45.1)
Restructuring and site closure costs (4.6) (6.7) (15.3)
Acquisition costs and related gains - (1.2) (0.6)
Sale of businesses (1.8) (0.4) (3.2)
Impairment charge - - (5.7)
SaaS implementation (0.6) - -
Pension past service costs - - (4.4)
Total impact on operating profit - continuing operations (29.3) (31.1) (74.3)
Loss on extinguishment of financing facilities - (1.3) (1.4)
Total impact on loss before taxation - continuing operations (29.3) (32.4) (75.7)
Taxation Special Items - - 7.5
Taxation on Special Items 2.4 3.0 7.1
Total impact on loss for the period - continuing operations (26.9) (29.4) (61.1)
Amortisation of acquired intangibles reflects the amortisation on the customer
lists, patents, trademarks and trade secrets that arose on historic
acquisitions, including the 2022 acquisition of the adhesive resins business.
The intangible assets arising on the acquisition are amortised over a period
of 8-20 years.
Restructuring and site closure costs in H1 2025 mainly comprised a £1.1m
charge in relation to the ongoing integration of the adhesive resins business
acquired in 2022, a £1.7m charge in relation to the closure of the Ningbo
antioxidants plant and a further £0.6m in site rationalisation and
restructuring costs.
Sale of businesses (continuing operations) costs of £1.8m comprise costs
incurred associated with potential future divestments.
Software as a service (SaaS) implementation costs of £0.6m represent the cost
of setting up a new customer relationship management tool.
The tax on Special Items for continuing operations was a £2.4m tax credit (H1
2024: £3.0m; FY 2024: £7.1m). This mainly relates to deferred tax arising on
the amortisation of acquired intangibles.
Discontinued operations
On 30 May 2025, the Group completed the divestment of William Blythe Limited
to its management team alongside H2 Equity Partners, resulting in a net cash
inflow of £24.2m including transaction costs of £0.9m. The loss on disposal
was £8.9m. William Blythe is reported as discontinued in these results.
In the period, £8.9m of losses were recognised in relation to Special Items -
discontinued operations (H1 2024: £3.3m loss) relating to the William Blythe
sale.
Finance costs
Six months ended 30 June H1 2025 H1 2024 FY 2024
£m £m £m
Interest payable (32.1) (33.8) (68.0)
Interest receivable 4.0 6.8 12.1
Net interest expense on defined benefit obligation (0.3) (0.9) (1.7)
Interest element of lease payments (1.7) (1.0) (2.4)
Finance costs - underlying (30.1) (28.9) (60.0)
Loss on extinguishment of financing facilities - (1.3) (1.4)
Finance costs - statutory (30.1) (30.2) (61.4)
Underlying finance costs increased to £30.1m (H1 2024: £28.9m) and comprise
interest on the Group's financing facilities and cash and cash equivalents,
interest rate swaps, amortisation of associated debt costs and IAS 19 pension
interest costs in respect of our defined benefit pension schemes.
No finance costs were recognised in special items (H1 2024: £1.3m).
Taxation
The group has calculated its best estimate of the annual effective corporate
income tax rate we expect for the full year, resulting in a half year
underlying tax charge of £7.1m for continuing operations. As in the prior
year period the estimated tax rate is very dependent on the level and the
geographical mix of the underlying profit or loss. This year the rate is also
being impacted by the partial de-recognition of a US deferred tax asset.
Therefore, there is significant fluctuation in the effective tax rate applied
when comparing the respective periods (H1 2025: (400.0)%, H1 2024: 200.0%).
The Group expects the effective tax rate to trend towards 25% over time.
Non-controlling interest
The Group continues to hold 70% of Revertex (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd and its
subsidiaries. These entities form a relatively minor part of the Group, so the
impact on underlying performance from non-controlling interests is not
significant.
Earnings per share
Earnings per share is calculated based on the weighted average number of
shares in issue during the year. The weighted average number of shares for H1
2025 was 163.5m (H1 2024: 163.5m). As at 5 August 2025, the Company had 163.6m
shares in issue.
Underlying earnings per share is (3.6) pence for the year, down from 1.3 pence
in H1 2024, reflecting the reduced earnings. The statutory earnings per share
is (25.5) pence (H1 2024: (18.8) pence).
Currency
The Group presents its consolidated financial statements in sterling and
conducts business in many currencies. As a result, it is subject to foreign
currency risk due to exchange rate movements, which affect the Group's
translation of the results and underlying net assets of its operations. To
manage this risk, the Group uses foreign currency borrowings, forward
contracts and currency swaps to hedge non-sterling net assets, which are
predominantly denominated in euros, US dollars and Malaysian ringgits.
In H1 2025 the Group experienced a translation headwind of £0.9m on EBITDA,
with average FX rates against our three principal currencies of €1.19, $1.30
and MYR 5.68 to the pound.
Given the global nature of our customer and supplier base, the impact of
transactional foreign exchange can be very different from translational
foreign exchange. We are able to partially mitigate the transaction impact by
matching supply and administrative cost currencies with sales currencies. To
reduce volatility which might affect the Group's cash or income statement, the
Group hedges net currency transaction exposures at the point of confirmed
order, using forward foreign exchange contracts. The Group's policy is, where
practicable, to hedge all exposures on monetary assets and liabilities.
Cash performance
The following table summarises the movement in net debt and is in the format
used by management:
Six months ended 30 June H1 2025 H1 2024 FY 2024
£m £m £m
Opening net debt (597.0) (499.7) (499.7)
Underlying operating profit (excluding joint ventures) 31.0 30.5 51.2
Movement in working capital (44.1) (28.9) (24.9)
Depreciation of property, plant and equipment 43.7 41.9 84.3
Amortisation of other intangible assets 6.3 5.3 12.1
Capital expenditure (44.1) (38.2) (83.2)
Operating Cash Flow(1) (7.2) 10.6 39.5
Net interest paid (27.5) (26.1) (54.6)
Tax received/(paid) 7.5 (6.9) (18.1)
Pension funding (2.6) (9.8) (19.8)
Adjustment for gain on sale of assets (1.9) - (4.3)
Adjustment for share-based payments charge 1.4 0.8 1.6
Dividends received from joint ventures - 0.2 1.0
Free Cash Flow (30.3) (31.2) (54.7)
Cash impact of SaaS implementation costs (0.6) - -
Cash impact of restructuring and site closure costs (8.0) (10.4) (20.2)
Cash impact of acquisition costs (0.4) (0.9) (1.7)
Payment of EC fine settlement amount - (39.1) (39.1)
Proceeds on sale of business 22.3 24.3 20.5
Rights issue costs - (4.7) (4.7)
Repayment of principal portion of lease liabilities (7.6) (6.7) (12.1)
Dividends paid to non-controlling interests (2.1) (0.2) (0.5)
Foreign exchange and other movements (14.6) 8.0 15.2
Movement in net debt (41.3) (60.9) (97.3)
Closing net debt (638.3) (560.6) (597.0)
(1 ) Operating Cash Flow is defined as Total Group EBITDA
plus/minus net working capital movement less capital expenditure.
Underlying operating profit increased to £31.0m reflecting the trading
performance described above. The net working capital outflow of £44.1m (H1
2024: £28.9m outflow) comprised typical seasonal movements in inventories,
payables and receivables totalling £(70.9)m (H1 2024: £(46.3)m), offset by
an increase in net receivables financing utilisation in the period of £26.8m
(H1 2024: £17.4m).
In December 2022, the Group put in place two-year, non-recourse receivables
financing facilities for a maximum committed amount of €200m. Factored
receivables assigned under the facilities amounted to £114.1m net at 30 June
2025 (30 June 2024: £128.0m net, 31 December 2024: £87.3m net). Under the
facilities, the risks and rewards of ownership are transferred to the
assignees. The duration of the committed facilities has been extended to 31
January 2027.
Depreciation increased reflecting the capital expenditure profile, whilst
amortisation of other intangibles increased due to the Pathway business
transformation programme. Capital expenditure (principally for Pathway and
recurring SHE and sustenance expenditure) increased to £44.1m in the period
(H1 2024: £38.2m), reflecting phasing of project spend. The Group now
anticipates modestly lower levels of capital expenditure for FY 2025 as a
whole compared with the prior year.
Net interest paid increased to £27.5m (H1 2024: £26.1m) reflecting higher
interest costs on financing facilities including the new senior unsecured
notes and lower interest receipts on cash balances.
Net tax received was £7.5m (H1 2024: £6.9m paid), including refunds of tax
payments made in the prior year.
The cash impact of Special Items including restructuring and site closure
costs, SaaS implementation and acquisition costs was an outflow of £9.0m (H1
2024: outflow of £11.3m).
Group debt is denominated in euros and dollars. The euro strengthened relative
to sterling during H1 2025, leading to a foreign exchange loss in net debt,
more than offsetting the weakening of the dollar.
Financing and liquidity
At 30 June 2025, net debt was £638.3m (30 June 2024: £560.6m, 31 December
2024: £597.0m). The increase since the year end principally reflects the Free
Cash Flow movements noted above, cash restructuring and site closure costs and
translation of foreign currency debt, partially offset by the proceeds on the
sale of business.
As at 30 June 2025, committed borrowing facilities principally comprised: a
€300m RCF maturing in July 2027, €350m of five-year 7.375% senior
unsecured loan notes maturing May 2029, the remaining €150m outstanding of
five-year 3.875% senior unsecured loan notes maturing July 2025 and the UK
Export Finance (UKEF) facilities of €288m and $230m both maturing October
2027. At 30 June 2025, the UKEF facilities were fully drawn and the RCF was
partially drawn (£73.0m) to provide additional liquidity for repayment of the
remaining €150m outstanding of 3.875% senior unsecured loan notes on 1 July
2025 and manage seasonal working capital movements.
The Group's committed liquidity at 30 June 2025 was in excess of £430m,
reducing by £129m immediately after the period end following repayment of the
3.875% senior unsecured loan notes.
The Group's net debt: EBITDA for the purposes of the leverage ratio covenant
increased from 4.6x at 31 December 2024 to 4.8x at 30 June 2025, principally
due to the higher net debt at the period end, as described elsewhere. The RCF
and the UKEF facilities are subject to a net debt:EBITDA leverage ratio
covenant. Note that the definitions used for the covenant test include a
number of adjustments to the net debt and EBITDA figures shown elsewhere in
this announcement; typically these definitional adjustments increase the
covenant ratio by 0.4-0.5x compared with using reported net debt and EBITDA.
The Group agreed in June 2025 to extend the period of temporary covenant
relaxation to ensure that appropriate headroom was maintained. Accordingly,
the net debt: EBITDA ratios required under the covenant have been set at not
more than 5.25x in December 2025, 4.5x in June 2026 and 4.25x in December
2026. Reducing leverage further towards our 1-2x medium-term target range
remains a key priority for the Group.
The Group expects net financing costs of c.£60-65m in 2025 reflecting recent
interest rate movements, the bond refinancing and other changes to the Group's
financing arrangements.
Balance sheet
Net assets of the Group decreased by 10.0% to £996.6m at 30 June 2025,
reflecting balance sheet foreign exchange translation movements and the loss
in the period.
Provisions
The Group provisions balance decreased to £30.4m compared with a balance of
£35.3m as at 31 December 2024, mainly reflecting cash utilisation in the
period, most notably in relation to onerous contracts and restructuring and
site rationalisation activities, and the transfer of provisions relating to
the William Blythe divestment.
Retirement benefit plans
The Group's principal funded defined benefit pension schemes are in the UK and
the USA and are both closed to new entrants and future accrual. The Group also
operates an unfunded defined benefit scheme in Germany and various other
defined contribution overseas retirement benefit arrangements.
The Group's net retirement obligation decreased by £3.1m to £46.6m at 30
June 2025 (30 June 2024: £50.7m, 31 December 2024: £49.7m), and reflects the
market value of assets and the valuation of liabilities in accordance with IAS
19, including an asset of £28.5m for the UK scheme. This reduction largely
comprised £3.5m of cash contributions and actuarial gains of £2.4m.
·
Consolidated income statement
for the six months ended 30 June 2025
30 June 2025 (unaudited) 30 June 2024 (unaudited)
Underlying performance Special IFRS Underlying performance Special IFRS
£m
Items
£m
£m
Items
£m
£m
£m
Continuing operations 925.2 - 925.2 1,025.6 - 1,025.6
Revenue
Company and subsidiaries operating profit before Special Items 27.9 - 27.9 27.3 - 27.3
Amortisation of acquired - (22.3) (22.3) - (22.8) (22.8)
intangibles
Restructuring and site closure - (4.6) (4.6) - (6.7) (6.7)
costs
Acquisition costs and related - - - - (1.2) (1.2)
gains
Sale of - (1.8) (1.8) - (0.4) (0.4)
business
Software as a service implementation - (0.6) (0.6) - - -
Pension past service costs - - - - - -
Impairment charge - - - - - -
Company and subsidiaries operating profit / (loss) 27.9 (29.3) (1.4) 27.3 (31.1) (3.8)
Share of joint ventures 0.4 - 0.4 0.9 - 0.9
Operating profit / (loss) 28.3 (29.3) (1.0) 28.2 (31.1) (2.9)
Interest payable (32.1) - (32.1) (33.8) - (33.8)
Interest receivable 4.0 - 4.0 6.8 - 6.8
Loss on extinguishment of financing facilities - - - - (1.3) (1.3)
Net interest expense on defined benefit obligations (0.3) - (0.3) (0.9) - (0.9)
Interest element of lease payments (1.7) - (1.7) (1.0) - (1.0)
Finance costs (30.1) - (30.1) (28.9) (1.3) (30.2)
Loss before taxation (1.8) (29.3) (31.1) (0.7) (32.4) (33.1)
Taxation (7.1) 2.4 (4.7) (0.2) 3.0 2.8
Loss for the period from continuing operations (8.9) (26.9) (35.8) (0.9) (29.4) (30.3)
Profit / (loss) for the period from discontinued operations attributable to 3.1 (8.9) (5.8) 2.6 (3.3) (0.7)
the equity holders of the parent
(Loss) / profit for the period (5.8) (35.8) (41.6) 1.7 (32.7) (31.0)
Profit / (loss) attributable to non-controlling interests 0.1 - 0.1 (0.4) 0.1 (0.3)
(Loss) / profit attributable to equity holders of the parent (5.9) (35.8) (41.7) 2.1 (32.8) (30.7)
(5.8) (35.8) (41.6) 1.7 (32.7) (31.0)
Earnings per share
- Basic from continuing operations (5.4)p (16.5)p (21.9)p (0.6)p (17.9)p (18.5)p
- Diluted from continuing operations (5.4)p (16.5)p (21.9)p (0.6)p (17.9)p (18.5)p
- Basic (3.6)p (21.9)p (25.5)p 1.3p (20.1)p (18.8)p
- Diluted (3.6)p (21.9)p (25.5)p 1.3p (20.1)p (18.8)p
Consolidated income statement
for the six months ended 30 June 2025 (continued)
Year ended 31 December 2024 (audited)
Underlying performance Special IFRS
£m
Items
£m
£m
Continuing operations
Revenue 1,933.1 - 1,933.1
Company and subsidiaries operating profit before Special Items 46.5 - 46.5
Amortisation of acquired - (45.1) (45.1)
intangibles
Restructuring and site closure - (15.0) (15.0)
costs
Acquisition costs and related - (0.6) (0.6)
gains
Sale of - (3.2) (3.2)
business
Software as a service implementation - - -
Pension past service costs - (4.4) (4.4)
Impairment - (5.7) (5.7)
charge
Company and subsidiaries operating profit / (loss) 46.5 (74.0) (27.5)
Share of joint ventures 1.6 (0.3) 1.3
Operating profit / (loss) 48.1 (74.3) (26.2)
Interest payable (68.0) - (68.0)
Interest receivable 12.1 - 12.1
Loss on extinguishment of financing facilities - (1.4) (1.4)
Net interest expense on defined benefit obligations (1.7) - (1.7)
Interest element of lease payments (2.4) - (2.4)
Finance costs (60.0) (1.4) (61.4)
Loss before taxation (11.9) (75.7) (87.6)
Taxation 4.2 14.6 18.8
Loss for the year from continuing operations (7.7) (61.1) (68.8)
Profit / (loss) for the year from discontinued operations attributable to the 3.9 (4.4) (0.5)
equity holders of the parent
Loss for the year (3.8) (65.5) (69.3)
Profit attributable to non-controlling interests 0.3 3.0 3.3
Loss attributable to equity holders of the parent (4.1) (68.5) (72.6)
(3.8) (65.5) (69.3)
Earnings per share
- Basic from continuing operations (4.9)p (39.2)p (44.1)p
- Diluted from continuing operations (4.9)p (39.2)p (44.1)p
- Basic (2.5)p (41.9)p (44.4)p
- Diluted (2.5)p (41.9)p (44.4)p
Consolidated statement of comprehensive income
for the six months ended 30 June 2025
30 June 2025 (unaudited) 30 June 2024 (unaudited)
Equity holders of the parent Non-controlling interests Total Equity holders of the parent Non-controlling interests Total
£m £m £m £m £m £m
(Loss)/profit for the period (41.7) 0.1 (41.6) (30.7) (0.3) (31.0)
Actuarial gains 2.4 - 2.4 3.5 - 3.5
Tax relating to components of other comprehensive income (0.9) - (0.9) 1.9 - 1.9
Total items that will not be reclassified to profit or loss 1.5 - 1.5 5.4 - 5.4
Exchange differences on translation of foreign operations (55.8) (0.5) (56.3) (8.1) (0.7) (8.8)
Exchange differences recycled on sale of business - - - 4.4 - 4.4
Fair value (loss)/gain on hedged interest derivatives (2.4) - (2.4) 1.2 - 1.2
(Loss)/gain on net investment hedges taken to equity (9.0) - (9.0) 5.7 - 5.7
Total items that may be reclassified subsequently to profit or loss (67.2) (0.5) (67.7) 3.2 (0.7) 2.5
Other comprehensive (expense) / income for the period (65.7) (0.5) (66.2) 8.6 (0.7) 7.9
Total comprehensive expense for the period (107.4) (0.4) (107.8) (22.1) (1.0) (23.1)
Year ended 31 December 2024 (audited)
Equity holders of the parent Non-controlling interests Total
£m £m £m
(Loss) / profit for the year (72.6) 3.3 (69.3)
Actuarial losses (2.1) - (2.1)
Tax relating to components of other comprehensive income 0.1 - 0.1
Total items that will not be reclassified to profit or loss (2.0) - (2.0)
Exchange differences on translation of foreign operations 3.8 (0.8) 3.0
Exchange differences recycled on sale of business 4.4 - 4.4
Fair value loss on hedged interest derivatives (3.3) - (3.3)
Gains on net investment hedges taken to equity 11.9 - 11.9
Total items that may be reclassified subsequently to profit or loss 16.8 (0.8) 16.0
Other comprehensive income/(expense) for the year 14.8 (0.8) 14.0
Total comprehensive (expense)/income for the year (57.8) 2.5 (55.3)
Consolidated statement of changes in equity
for the six months ended 30 June 2025
Share Share Capital redemption reserve Hedging & translation reserve Retained earnings Total equity holdings of Non-controlling interests Total Equity
capital premium £m £m £m the parent £m £m
£m £m £m
At 1 January 2025 1.6 925.9 0.9 27.2 136.7 1,092.3 15.4 1,107.7
(Loss)/profit for the period - - - - (41.7) (41.7) 0.1 (41.6)
Other comprehensive (expense) / income for the period - - - (67.2) 1.5 (65.7) (0.5) (66.2)
Total comprehensive expense for the period - - - (67.2) (40.2) (107.4) (0.4) (107.8)
Dividends - - - - - - - (2.1) (2.1)
Share-based payments - - - - (1.2) (1.2) - (1.2)
At 30 June 2025 (unaudited) 1.6 925.9 0.9 (40.0) 95.3 983.7 12.9 996.6
Capital redemption Hedging & translation reserve Total equity holdings of
Share Share reserve £m Retained earnings the parent Non-controlling Total Equity
capital premium £m £m £m interests £m
£m £m £m
At 1 January 2024 1.6 925.9 0.9 10.4 209.8 1,148.6 13.4 1,162.0
Loss for the period - - - - (30.7) (30.7) (0.3) (31.0)
Other comprehensive income/(expense) for the period - - - 3.2 5.4 8.6 (0.7) 7.9
Total comprehensive income/(expense) for the period - - - 3.2 (25.3) (22.1) (1.0) (23.1)
Share-based payments - - - - 1.3 1.3 - 1.3
At 30 June 2024 (unaudited) 1.6 925.9 0.9 13.6 185.8 1,127.8 12.4 1,140.2
Capital redemption Hedging & translation reserve Total equity holdings of
Share Share reserve £m Retained earnings the parent Non-controlling Total Equity
capital premium £m £m £m interests £m
£m £m £m
1.6 925.9 0.9 10.4 209.8 1,148.6 13.4 1,162.0
At 1 January 2024
(Loss)/profit for the year - - - - (72.6) (72.6) 3.3 (69.3)
Other comprehensive income/(expense) for the year - - - 16.8 (2.0) 14.8 (0.8) 14.0
Total comprehensive income / (expense) for the year - - - 16.8 (74.6) (57.8) 2.5 (55.3)
Dividends - - - - - - (0.5) (0.5)
Share-based payments - - - - 1.5 1.5 - 1.5
At 31 December 2024 (audited) 1.6 925.9 0.9 27.2 136.7 1,092.3 15.4 1,107.7
Consolidated balance sheet
as at 30 June 2025
30 June 2025 30 June 2024 31 December 2024
(unaudited) (unaudited) (audited)
£m £m £m
Non-current assets
Goodwill 435.3 454.9 455.1
Acquired intangible 362.4 429.1 407.1
assets
Other intangible 71.1 70.4 70.6
assets
Property, plant and 666.4 680.5 688.5
equipment
Deferred tax 46.4 46.7 55.7
assets
Defined benefit 28.5 22.2 26.0
asset
Investment in joint 7.9 7.7 8.1
ventures
Total non-current assets 1,618.0 1,711.5 1,711.1
Current assets
Inventories 321.0 342.7 348.2
Trade and other 242.4 271.7 227.2
receivables
Current tax 2.7 5.2 15.6
assets
Cash and cash 266.4 273.3 225.8
equivalents
Derivative financial 1.2 6.1 2.8
instruments
Assets classified as held for - 5.5 6.5
sale
Total current assets 833.7 904.5 826.1
Total assets 2,451.7 2,616.0 2,537.2
Current liabilities
Borrowings (128.8) (0.4) (124.2)
Trade and other (346.4) (424.1) (391.6)
payables
Lease (10.6) (12.5) (12.3)
liabilities
Current tax liabilities (12.5) (25.9) (17.6)
Provisions for other liabilities and charges (7.9) (11.2) (7.8)
Derivative financial instruments (2.8) (2.0) (1.6)
Total current liabilities (509.0) (476.1) (555.1)
Non-current liabilities
Borrowings (775.9) (833.5) (698.6)
Trade and other payables (0.1) (0.2) (0.1)
Lease liabilities (45.3) (36.3) (43.6)
Deferred tax liabilities (27.2) (30.4) (28.9)
Retirement benefit obligations (75.1) (72.9) (75.7)
Provisions for other liabilities and charges (22.5) (26.4) (27.5)
Total non-current liabilities (946.1) (999.7) (874.4)
Total liabilities (1,455.1) (1,475.8) (1,429.5)
Net assets 996.6 1,140.2 1,107.7
Equity
Share capital 1.6 1.6 1.6
Share premium 925.9 925.9 925.9
Capital redemption reserve 0.9 0.9 0.9
Hedging and translation reserve (40.0) 13.6 27.2
Retained earnings 95.3 185.8 136.7
Equity attributable to equity holders of the parent 983.7 1,127.8 1,092.3
Non-controlling interests 12.9 12.4 15.4
Total equity 996.6 1,140.2 1,107.7
Consolidated cash flow statement
for the six months ended 30 June 2025
Six months ended Six months ended Year ended
30 June 2025 30 June 2024 31 December 2024
(unaudited) (unaudited) (audited)
£m £m £m
Operating
Cash generated/(used) from operations (Note 5) 24.8 (10.6) 39.2
- Interest received 4.0 6.8 12.1
- Interest paid (29.8) (31.9) (64.3)
- Interest element of lease payments (1.7) (1.0) (2.4)
Net interest paid (27.5) (26.1) (54.6)
- UK corporation tax received 0.8 - 0.7
- Overseas corporate tax received/(paid) 6.7 (6.9) (18.8)
Total tax received/(paid) 7.5 (6.9) (18.1)
Net cash inflow / (outflow) from operating activities 4.8 (43.6) (33.5)
Investing
Dividends received from joint ventures - 0.2 1.0
Purchase of property, plant and equipment and other intangible assets (45.2) (38.2) (90.6)
Proceeds from sale of property, plant and equipment 1.1 - 7.4
Proceeds from sale of business 22.3 24.3 20.5
Net cash outflow from investing activities (21.8) (13.7) (61.7)
Financing
Dividends paid to non-controlling interests (2.1) (0.2) (0.5)
Proceeds on issue of shares - (4.7) (4.7)
Settlement of equity-settled share-based payments - (0.1) (0.2)
Repayment of principal portion of lease liabilities (7.6) (6.7) (12.1)
Repayment of borrowings - (315.9) (327.9)
Proceeds of borrowings 71.6 298.8 299.5
Net cash inflow/(outflow) from financing activities 61.9 (28.8) (45.9)
Increase/ (Decrease) in cash, cash equivalents and bank overdrafts during the 44.9 (86.1) (141.1)
period
Cash and cash equivalents and bank overdrafts at 1 January 225.5 370.6 370.6
Foreign exchange (4.1) (11.6) (4.0)
Cash and cash equivalents and bank overdrafts at period end 266.3 272.9 225.5
See note 10 for further details of cash flows from discontinued operations.
Notes to the consolidated financial statements
for the six months ended 30 June 2025
1 Basis of preparation
Synthomer plc is a public company limited company incorporated in the United
Kingdom and registered in England under the Companies Act. The Company is
listed on the London Stock Exchange and the address of the registered office
is Temple Fields, Harlow, Essex CM20 2BH. These interim financial statements
for the six month period ended 30 June 2025 have been prepared on the basis of
the policies set out in the 2024 annual financial statements and in accordance
with UK adopted International Accounting Standard 34 'Interim Financial
Reporting' and the Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules sourcebook of
the UK's Financial Conduct Authority. These interim financial statements do
not comprise statutory accounts within the meaning of section 434 of the
Companies Act 2006 and do not include all the notes normally included in
annual financial statements. Statutory accounts for the year ended 31 December
2024 were approved by the Board of Directors on 11 March 2025 and delivered to
the Registrar of Companies. The report of the auditors on those accounts was
unqualified, did not contain an emphasis of matter paragraph and did not
contain any statement under section 498 of the Companies Act 2006.
These interim financial statements have been reviewed, not audited.
Going concern
The Group meets its day-to-day working capital requirements through its bank
facilities. The current economic conditions continue to create uncertainty,
particularly over the level of demand for the Group's products. The Group's
forecasts and projections take account of reasonably possible changes in
trading performance and a severe but plausible downside scenario has been
prepared, linked to our principal risks. Various mitigating actions have been
identified so that, should such a scenario crystallise, the Group could take
action quickly to significantly reduce costs and cash outflows as demonstrated
during the course of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
As at 30 June 2025, the consolidated balance sheet reflects a net asset
position of £996.6m and the liquidity of the Group had headroom of more than
£430m of cash and undrawn committed facilities. At the half year, the net
debt position was £638.3m and our covenant ratio was 4.8x. Our severe but
plausible downside scenario, offset by mitigation actions as required, does
not indicate a debt leverage covenant break on any of the dates through to
December 2026. Having considered the outcome of these assessments, the
Directors have, at the time of approving the interim report and financial
statements, a reasonable expectation that the Company and the Group will have
adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable
future. Thus, they continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in
preparing the financial statements.
Goodwill and acquired intangible assets
The Group tests goodwill annually for impairment, or more frequently if there
are indications that goodwill might be impaired. Due to recent reductions in
our market capitalisation an impairment test was performed at 30 June 2025. No
impairment was identified.
Key sources of estimation uncertainty
The key assumptions concerning the future, and other key sources of estimation
uncertainty at the reporting date that may have a significant risk of causing
a material adjustment to the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities within
the next financial year are set out in the 2024 Annual Report. Estimates and
underlying assumptions are reviewed on an ongoing basis and at 30 June 2025
there were no changes to existing estimates and assumptions and no new sources
of estimation uncertainty were identified.
2. Accounting policies
The annual financial statements of Synthomer plc are prepared in accordance
with UK-adopted International Accounting Standards and the requirements of the
Companies Act 2006. The same accounting policies and methods of computations
are followed in these financial statements as in the most recent audited
annual financial statements. Effective from 1 January 2025, no updates to
IFRSs have been made that would affect the Group.
3 Special Items
IFRS and Underlying performance
The IFRS profit measures show the performance of the Group as a whole and as
such include all sources of income and expense, including both one-off items
and those that do not relate to the Group's ongoing businesses. To provide
additional clarity on the ongoing trading performance of the Group's
businesses, management uses 'Underlying' performance as an Alternative
Performance Measure to plan for, control and assess the performance of the
segments. Underlying performance differs from the IFRS measures as it excludes
Special Items.
Special Items
Special Items are disclosed separately in order to provide a clearer
indication of the Group's Underlying performance.
Special Items are either irregular, and therefore including them in the
assessment of a segment's performance would lead to a distortion of trends, or
are technical adjustments which ensure the Group's financial statements are in
compliance with IFRS but do not reflect the operating performance of a segment
in the period, or both. An example of the latter is the amortisation of
acquired intangibles, which principally relates to acquired customer
relationships. The Group incurs costs, which are recognised as an expense in
the income statement, in maintaining these customer relationships. The Group
considers that the exclusion of the amortisation charge on acquired
intangibles from Underlying performance avoids the potential double counting
of such costs and therefore excludes it as a Special Item from Underlying
performance.
The following are consistently disclosed separately as Special Items in order
to provide a clearer indication of the Group's Underlying performance:
• Restructuring and site closure costs;
• Sale of a business or significant asset;
• Acquisition costs and related gains;
• Amortisation of acquired intangible assets;
• Impairment of non-current assets;
• Software as a service implementation costs;
• Fair value adjustments in respect of derivative financial
instruments where hedge accounting is not applied;
• Items of income and expense that are considered material,
either by their size and / or nature;
• Tax impact of above items; and
• Settlement of prior period tax issues.
Special Items comprise:
Six months ended Six months ended Year ended 31 December 2024 (audited)
30 June 2025 (unaudited)
30 June 2024 (unaudited)
£m
£m £m
Amortisation of acquired (22.3) (22.8) (45.1)
intangibles
Restructuring and site closure costs (including share of JV) (4.6) (6.7) (15.3)
Acquisition costs and related gains - (1.2) (0.6)
Sale of business (1.8) (0.4) (3.2)
Software as a service implementation (0.6) - -
Pension past service cost - - (4.4)
Impairment charge - - (5.7)
Total impact on operating profit (29.3) (31.1) (74.3)
Finance costs
Loss on extinguishment of financing facilities - (1.3) (1.4)
Total impact on loss before taxation (29.3) (32.4) (75.7)
Taxation Special Items - - 7.5
Taxation on Special Items 2.4 3.0 7.1
Total impact on loss for the period - continuing operations (26.9) (29.4) (61.1)
Discontinued Operations
Restructuring and site closure costs - (0.4) (1.2)
Sale of business (8.9) (2.9) (3.2)
Total impact on profit for the period - discontinued operations (8.9) (3.3) (4.4)
Total impact on (loss) / profit for the period (35.8) (32.7) (65.5)
3 Special Items (continued)
Amortisation of acquired intangibles reflects the amortisation on the customer
lists, patents, trademarks and trade secrets that arose on historic
acquisitions, including the 2022 acquisition of the adhesive resins business.
The intangible assets arising on the acquisition are amortised over a period
of 8-20 years.
Restructuring and site closure costs in H1 2025 comprise:
• A £1.1m charge in relation to the ongoing integration of
the acquired adhesive resins business into the Adhesive Solutions division.
• A £1.7m charge in relation to the closure of the Ningbo
antioxidants plant
• A further £0.6m in site rationalisation and restructuring
costs.
Restructuring and site closure costs in H1 2024 comprised a £1.6m charge in
relation to site closure costs associated with mothballing our NBR plant in
Kluang, Malaysia, a £1.2m charge in relation to the integration of the
acquired adhesive resins business into the Adhesive Solutions division, a
£1.2m charge in relation to the onerous contract arising from the earlier
divestment of the European tyre cord business, a further £2.8m, in relation
to enacting the new strategy and the alignment of the business into its new
division.
Sale of business (continuing operations) costs of £1.8m comprise costs
incurred associated with potential future divestments.
Sale of business (discontinued operations) represents the loss recognised on
the sale of the William Blythe business, which completed on 30 May 2025. Refer
to note 10 for further details. In the prior year sale of business principally
comprised of the sale of the latex compounding ("Compounds") operations after
recycling of FX reserves.
Software as a service implementation of £0.6m representing the cost of
setting up a new customer relationship management tool.
The tax on Special Items for continuing operations was a £2.4m tax credit (H1
2024: £3.0m tax credit; FY 2024: £7.1m tax credit). This mainly relates to
deferred tax arising on the amortisation of acquired intangibles.
4 Segmental analysis
The Group's Executive Committee, chaired by the Chief Executive Officer,
examines the Group's performance.
The Group's reportable segments are as follows:
Coatings & Construction Solutions (CCS)
Our specialist polymers enhance the sustainable performance of a wide range of
coatings and construction products. We work across architectural and masonry
coatings, mortar modification, waterproofing and flooring, fibre bonding, and
energy solutions.
Adhesive Solutions (AS)
Our adhesive solutions bond, modify and compatibilise surfaces and components
for products including tapes and labels, packaging, hygiene, tyres and plastic
modification, helping improve permeability, strength, elasticity, damping,
dispersion and grip.
Health & Protection and Performance Materials (HPPM)
We help enhance protection and performance in a wide range of industries
including medical glove manufacture, speciality paper, food packaging, carpet
and artificial turf, gel foam elastomers, and vinyl-coated seating fabrics.
The Group's Executive Committee is the chief operating decision maker and
primarily uses a measure of earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and
amortisation (EBITDA) to assess the performance of the operating segments. No
information is provided to the Group's Executive Committee at the segment
level concerning interest income, interest expense, income tax or other
material non-cash items.
No single customer accounts for more than 10% of the Group's revenue.
A segmental analysis of Underlying performance and Special Items is shown
below.
Six months ended 30 June 2025 (unaudited)
Continuing Operations Discontinued Operations Total
2025 Coatings & Construction Solutions Adhesive Health & Protection and Performance Materials Corporate Total £m Total
£m Solutions £m £m £m £m
£m
Revenue
Total revenue 372.5 298.4 256.6 - 927.5 28.9 956.4
Inter-segmental revenue - - (2.3) - (2.3) - (2.3)
372.5 298.4 254.3 - 925.2 28.9 954.1
EBITDA 34.5 35.4 16.6 (8.7) 77.8 3.6 81.4
Depreciation and amortisation (12.3) (16.2) (15.4) (5.6) (49.5) (0.5) (50.0)
Operating profit / (loss) before Special Items 22.2 19.2 1.2 (14.3) 28.3 3.1 31.4
Special Items (12.9) (10.3) (5.5) (0.6) (29.3) (8.9) (38.2)
Operating profit / (loss) 9.3 8.9 (4.3) (14.9) (1.0) (5.8) (6.8)
Finance costs (30.1)
Loss before taxation (36.9)
4 Segmental analysis (continued)
Six months ended 30 June 2024 (unaudited)
Continuing Operations Discontinued Operations Total
2024 Coatings & Construction Solutions Adhesive Health & Protection and Performance Materials Corporate Total £m Total
£m Solutions £m £m £m £m
£m
Revenue
Total revenue 430.4 308.7 288.2 - 1,027.3 35.2 1,062.5
Inter-segmental revenue - - (1.7) - (1.7) - (1.7)
430.4 308.7 286.5 - 1,025.6 35.2 1,060.8
EBITDA 53.0 21.9 13.5 (13.7) 74.7 3.9 78.6
Depreciation and amortisation (12.4) (16.7) (13.1) (4.3) (46.5) (0.7) (47.2)
Operating profit / (loss) before Special Items 40.6 5.2 0.4 (18.0) 28.2 3.2 31.4
Special Items (9.6) (13.8) (5.4) (2.3) (31.1) (3.3) (34.4)
Operating profit / (loss) 31.0 (8.6) (5.0) (20.3) (2.9) (0.1) (3.0)
(30.2)
Finance costs
Loss before taxation (33.2)
Year ended 31 December 2024 (audited)
Continuing Operations Discontinued Operations Total
2024 Coatings & Construction Solutions Adhesive Health & Protection and Performance Materials Corporate Total £m Total
£m Solutions £m £m £m £m
£m
Revenue
Total revenue 790.5 588.4 557.7 - 1,936.6 63.5 2,000.1
Inter-segmental revenue - - (3.5) - (3.5) - (3.5)
790.5 588.4 554.2 - 1,933.1 63.5 1,996.6
EBITDA 85.9 47.9 33.0 (23.7) 143.1 6.1 149.2
Depreciation and amortisation (25.3) (32.9) (26.9) (9.9) (95.0) (1.4) (96.4)
Operating profit / (loss) before Special Items 60.6 15.0 6.1 (33.6) 48.1 4.7 52.8
Special Items (28.1) (24.5) (17.7) (4.0) (74.3) (4.4) (78.7)
Operating profit / (loss) 32.5 (9.5) (11.6) (37.6) (26.2) 0.3 (25.9)
Finance costs (61.4)
Loss before taxation (87.3)
5 Reconciliation of operating loss to cash generated from operations
Continuing and discontinued operations: Six months Six months Year ended 31
ended 30 June ended 30 June December 2024
2025 2024 (audited)
(unaudited) (unaudited)
£m
£m
£m
Operating loss (6.8) (3.0) (25.9)
Less: share of profits of joint ventures (0.4) (0.9) (1.6)
(7.2) (3.9) (27.5)
Adjustments for:
- Depreciation of property, plant and equipment 35.5 35.8 73.2
- Depreciation of right of use assets 8.2 6.1 11.1
- Amortisation of other intangibles 6.3 5.3 12.1
- Share-based payments 1.4 0.8 1.6
- (Gain) on sale of underlying assets (1.9) - (4.3)
- Special Items 38.2 34.4 78.7
Cash impact of restructuring and site closure costs (8.0) (10.4) (20.2)
Cash impact of acquisition costs and related gains (0.4) (0.9) (1.7)
Cash impact of software as a service implementation (0.6) - -
Pension funding in excess of service cost (2.6) (9.8) (19.8)
Decrease/(Increase) in inventories 6.1 (8.1) (15.5)
Increase in trade and other receivables (17.8) (69.7) (23.4)
(Decrease)/Increase in trade and other payables (32.4) 48.9 14.0
Payment of EC fine settlement amount - (39.1) (39.1)
Cash generated/(used) from operations 24.8 (10.6) (39.2)
6 Taxation
The group has calculated its best estimate of the annual effective corporate
income tax rate we expect for the full year, resulting in a half year
underlying tax charge of £7.1m for continuing operations. We estimate the
rate by applying the expected corporate income tax rates for each tax
jurisdiction in which we operate. As in the prior year the estimated tax rate
is very dependent on the level of underlying profit or loss and the
geographical mix of that profit or loss. This year the rate is also being
impacted by the partial de-recognition of the US deferred tax asset due to
there being insufficient evidence that the asset will reverse in the short to
medium term. Therefore, there is some fluctuation in the effective tax rate
applied when comparing the relative periods: H1 2025 (400.0)%, H1 2024:
200.0%; FY 2024: 43.8%.
The tax on Special Items for continuing operations was a £2.4m (H1 2024:
£3.0m; FY 2024: £14.6m). This mainly relates to deferred tax arising on the
amortisation of acquired intangibles.
The group is within the scope of the OECD Pillar Two model rules. Pillar Two
legislation was enacted in the United Kingdom, the jurisdiction in which the
parent company is incorporated, and is effective from 1 January 2024. The
group applies the IAS 12 exception to recognising and disclosing information
about deferred tax assets and liabilities related to Pillar Two income taxes.
Under the legislation, the group is liable to pay a top-up tax for the
difference between its GloBE effective tax rate per jurisdiction and the 15%
minimum rate. The group has estimated weighted average effective tax rates
that exceed 15% in all jurisdictions in which it operates and therefore does
not expect to be subject to the global minimum top-up tax in the year ending
31 December 2025.
7 Earnings per share
Six months ended 30 June 2025 Six months ended 30 June 2024
(unaudited) (unaudited)
Underlying Special IFRS Underlying Special IFRS
performance Items performance Items
(Loss)/profit attributable to equity holders of the parent
- continuing £m (8.9) (26.9) (35.8) (0.9) (29.4) (30.3)
- total £m (5.9) (35.8) (41.7) 2.1 (32.8) (30.7)
Number of shares
Weighted average number of ordinary shares - basic '000 163,490 163,474
Effect of dilutive potential ordinary shares '000 4,272 852
Weighted average number of ordinary shares - diluted '000 167,762 164,326
Earnings per share for profit from continuing operations
Basic earnings per share pence (5.4) (16.5) (21.9) (0.6) (17.9) (18.5)
Diluted earnings per share pence (5.4) (16.5) (21.9) (0.6) (17.9) (18.5)
Earnings per share for profit from discontinued operations
Basic earnings per share pence 1.8 (5.4) (3.6) 1.8 (2.0) (0.2)
Diluted earnings per share pence 1.8 (5.4) (3.6) 1.8 (2.0) (0.2)
Earnings per share for profit attributable to equity holders of the parent
Basic earnings per share pence (3.6) (21.9) (25.5) 1.3 (20.1) (18.8)
Diluted earnings per share pence (3.6) (21.9) (25.5) 1.3 (20.1) (18.8)
Year ended 31 December 2024
(audited)
Underlying Special IFRS
performance Items
Loss attributable to equity holders of the parent
- continuing £m (8.0) (64.1) (72.1)
- total £m (4.1) (68.5) (72.6)
Number of shares
Weighted average number of ordinary shares - basic '000 163,473
Effect of dilutive potential ordinary shares '000 1,078
Weighted average number of ordinary shares - diluted '000 164,551
Earnings per share for profit from continuing operations
Basic earnings per share pence (4.9) (39.2) (44.1)
Diluted earnings per share pence (4.9) (39.2) (44.1)
Earnings per share for profit from discontinued operations
Basic earnings per share pence 2.4 (2.7) (0.3)
Diluted earnings per share pence 2.4 (2.7) (0.3)
Earnings per share for profit attributable to equity holders of the parent
Basic earnings per share pence (2.5) (41.9) (44.4)
Diluted earnings per share pence (2.5) (41.9) (44.4)
8 Analysis of net debt
30 June 2025 30 June 2024 31 December 2024
(unaudited) (unaudited) (audited)
£m £m £m
Bank overdrafts (0.1) (0.4) (0.3)
€520m 3.875% senior unsecured loan notes due 2025 (128.7) - (123.9)
Current bank borrowings - - -
Current liabilities (128.8) (0.4) (124.2)
Bank loans (480.1) (416.0) (414.2)
€520m 3.875% senior unsecured loan notes due 2025 - (126.7) -
€350m 7.375% senior unsecured loan notes due 2029 (295.8) (290.8) (284.4)
Non-current liabilities (775.9) (833.5) (698.6)
Total borrowings (904.7) (833.9) (822.8)
Cash and cash equivalents 266.4 273.3 225.8
Net Debt (638.3) (560.6) (597.0)
Net debt is defined in the glossary of terms. Capitalised debt costs, which
have been recognised as a reduction in borrowings in the financial statements,
amounted to £11.8m at 30 June 2025 (30 June 2024: £15.7m, 31 December 2024:
£12.8m).
9 Defined benefit schemes
We have updated the value of the defined benefit plan assets to reflect their
market value as at 30 June 2025. Actuarial gains or losses are recognised in
the Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income in accordance with the
Group's accounting policy. We have updated the liabilities to reflect the
change in the discount rate and other assumptions. The Group's net pension
liability decreased by £3.1m to £46.6m, which includes an asset of £28.5m
for the UK scheme. This £3.1m reduction was largely driven by £3.5m of cash
contributions and actuarial gains of £2.4m partially offset by interest,
service cost and foreign exchange movements.
10 Discontinued operations
On 30 May 2025, the Group sold William Blythe Limited to Hamsard 3806 Bidco
Limited.
A summary of the proceeds and disposed assets is set out below:
Total
£m
Consideration
Cash Consideration 30.0
Total 30.0
Net assets sold:
Goodwill 8.0
Intangible assets 0.2
Property Plant and equipment 4.4
Inventory 12.8
Cash and cash equivalents 4.9
Deferred tax assets 1.6
Trade and other receivables 13.5
Trade and other payables (7.4)
Total 38.0
Transaction costs in the period (0.9)
Loss on sale before tax (8.9)
Tax expense on sale -
Loss on sale after tax (8.9)
Total
£m
Cash Inflow of sale of business
Cash Consideration 30.0
Transaction costs paid in the period (0.9)
Cash consideration after transaction costs 29.1
Cash outflow with business (4.9)
Net proceeds from disposal of business 24.2
The total proceeds were £30.0m and the total transaction costs were £0.9m,
giving total proceeds after transaction costs of £29.1m.
10 Discontinued operations (continued)
Financial performance and cash flow information
Financial information in respect of the discontinued operation during the
period and the impact of the transaction is set out below:
All businesses disclosed as discontinued operations below formed part of the
Health & Protection and Performance Materials division.
Six months ended 30 June 2025 (unaudited) Six months ended 30 June 2024 (unaudited)
Compounds Laminates, Films and Coated Fabrics NA Paper and Carpet Total Compounds Laminates, Films and Coated Fabrics NA Paper and Carpet Total
£m £m £m £m £m £m £m £m
William Blythe William Blythe
£m £m
Revenue 28.9 - - - 28.9 9.8 - - 35.2
25.4
EBITDA 3.6 - - - 3.6 2.6 - - 3.9
1.3
Depreciation and amortisation - Underlying performance (0.5) - - - (0.5) (0.2) - - (0.7)
(0.5)
Operating Profit - Underlying performance 3.1 - - - 3.1 2.4 - - 3.2
0.8
Special Items (8.9) - - - (8.9) (3.0) 0.2 (0.4) (3.3)
(0.1)
Operating (loss) / profit - IFRS (5.8) - - - (5.8) (0.6) 0.2 (0.4) (0.1)
0.7
Financial costs - - - - - - - - -
-
(Loss) / profit before taxation (5.8) - - - (5.8) (0.6) 0.2 (0.4) (0.1)
0.7
Taxation - - - - - (0.6) - - (0.6)
-
(Loss) / profit for the period (5.8) - - - (5.8) (1.2) 0.2 (0.4) (0.7)
0.7
Year ended 31 December 2024 (audited)
Compounds Laminates, Films and Coated Fabrics NA Paper and Carpet Total
£m £m £m £m
William Blythe
£m
Revenue 9.8 - - 63.5
53.7
EBITDA 2.6 - - 6.1
3.5
Depreciation and amortisation - Underlying performance (0.2) - - (1.4)
(1.2)
Operating Profit - Underlying performance 2.4 - - 4.7
2.3
Special Items (3.3) 0.2 (1.1) (4.4)
(0.2)
Operating Profit / (loss) - IFRS (0.9) 0.2 (1.1) 0.3
2.1
Financial costs - - - -
-
Profit / (loss) before taxation (0.9) 0.2 (1.1) 0.3
2.1
Taxation (0.8) - - (0.8)
-
Profit / (loss) for the period (1.7) 0.2 (1.1) (0.5)
2.1
The prior-year comparatives of the consolidated income statement and the
consolidated statement of cash flows have been adjusted in accordance with
IFRS 5 to report the discontinued operations separately from continuing
operations.
10 Discontinued operations (continued)
Cash flows from discontinued operations
Six months ended 30 June 2025 (unaudited) Six months ended 30 June 2024 (unaudited)
Compounds Laminates, Films and Coated Fabrics NA Paper and Carpet Total Compounds Laminates, Films and Coated Fabrics NA Paper and Carpet Total
William Blythe £m £m £m £m £m £m £m £m
£m
William Blythe
£m
Net cash inflow / (outflow) from operating activities - - - 0.8 (3.6) - (0.4) (2.9)
0.8 1.1
Net cash inflow / (outflow) from investing activities (0.1) - - 24.1 18.5 (0.1) - 18.1
24.2 (0.3)
Year ended 31 December 2024 (audited)
Compounds Laminates, Films and Coated Fabrics NA Paper and Carpet Total
£m £m £m £m
William
Blythe
£m
Net cash inflow / (outflow) from operating activities (3.6) - (1.1) (4.0)
0.7
Net cash (outflow) / inflow from investing activities 17.5 (0.1) - 16.7
(0.7)
11 Capital commitments
The capital expenditure authorised but not provided for in the interim
financial statements as at 30 June 2025 was £16.6m (30 June 2024: £15.7m; 31
December 2024: £5.0m).
12 Related party transactions
Transactions between the Company and its subsidiaries, which are related
parties, have been eliminated on consolidation and are not included in this
note. Other than the relationships with defined benefit pension schemes as
disclosed in note 29 of the 2024 Annual Report, there were no other related
party transactions requiring disclosure.
Kuala Lumpur Kepong Berhad holds 27% of the Company's shares and is considered
to be a related party.
13 Seasonality
Historically, there has been no visible fixed pattern to seasonality in H1
compared to H2 performance in the Group, but the seasonality of the business
is more significantly impacted by macroeconomic conditions which remain
uncertain.
14 Post balance sheet events
After the end of the reporting period it was communicated to employees that a
decision to remove around 250 roles globally from the organisation had been
taken as part of an operating cost reduction programme. This constitutes a
non-adjusting event under IAS 10. The total expected cost associated with the
headcount reduction exercise is expected to be in the range of £8-11m.
15 Risks and uncertainties
The Group faces a number of risks which, if they arise, could affect our
ability to achieve our strategic objectives. As with any business, risk
assessment and the implementation of mitigating actions and controls are vital
to successfully achieving the strategy. The Directors are responsible for
determining the nature of these risks and ensuring appropriate mitigating
actions are in place to manage them.
These principal risks are categorised into the following types:
• Strategic
• Operational
• Compliance
• Financial
These risks are detailed on pages 49 to 56 of the 2024 Annual Report which is
available on our website at www.synthomer.com/IR (http://www.synthomer.com/IR)
.
The Directors continuously monitor the Group's risk environment and have not
identified any significant new or emerging risks or uncertainties which would
have a material impact on the Group's performance in the remaining part of the
year.
We continue to mitigate these risks by following, at a minimum, any government
mandated health and safety requirements at our sites, by ensuring that we have
multiple sources of raw materials, and by maintaining a diverse customer base.
16 Glossary of terms
EBITDA EBITDA is calculated as operating profit from continuing operations before
depreciation, amortisation and Special Items.
Operating profit Operating profit represents profit from continuing activities before finance
costs and taxation.
Gross margin Revenue less cost of raw materials, packaging and freight, as a percentage of
revenue.
Special Items Special Items are irregular items, whose inclusion could lead to a distortion
of trends, or technical adjustments which ensure the Group's financial
statements are in compliance with IFRS, but do not reflect the operating
performance of the segment in the year, or both.
These include the following, inter alia, which are disclosed separately as
Special Items in order to provide a clearer indication of the Group's
Underlying performance:
· Restructuring and site closure costs;
· Sale of a business or significant asset;
· Acquisition costs and related gains;
· Amortisation of acquired intangible assets;
· Impairment of non-current assets;
· Software as a service implementation costs;
· Fair value adjustments in respect of derivative financial
instruments where hedge accounting is not applied;
· Items of income and expense that are considered material,
either by their size and / or nature;
· Tax impact of above items; and
· Settlement of prior period tax issues.
Underlying performance This represents the statutory performance of the Group under IFRS, excluding
Special Items.
Free Cash Flow The movement in net debt before financing activities, foreign exchange and the
cash impact of Special Items, asset disposals and business combinations.
Net debt Net debt represents cash and cash equivalents less short- and long-term
borrowings.
Leverage Net debt divided by EBITDA as defined in documentation agreed with finance
providers.
Amongst other differences to net debt and EBITDA reported elsewhere in this
document, the Group's financial covenants are calculated using the accounting
standards adopted by the Group at 31 December 2018 and accordingly, leverage
excludes the impact of IFRS 16 Leases.
Ktes Kilotonnes or 1,000 tonnes (metric).
Important notice
This announcement contains 'forward-looking statements' which includes all
statements other than statements of historical fact, including, without
limitation, those regarding the Group's financial position, business strategy,
plans and objectives of management for future operations, or any statements
preceded by, followed by or that include the words "targets", "believes",
"expects", "aims", "intends", "will", "may", "anticipates", "would, "could" or
similar expressions or negatives thereof. Such forward-looking statements
involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors
beyond the Group's control that could cause the actual results, performance or
achievements of the Group to be materially different from future results,
performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking
statements. Such forward-looking statements are based on numerous assumptions
regarding the Group's present and future business strategies and the
environment in which the Group will operate in the future. These
forward-looking statements speak only as at the date of this announcement.
None of the Group or its Affiliates undertakes or is under any duty to update
this announcement or to correct any inaccuracies in any such information which
may become apparent or to provide you with any additional information, other
than any requirements that the Group may have under applicable law or the
Listing Rules, the Prospectus Rules, the Disclosure Guidance and Transparency
Rules or MAR. To the fullest extent permissible by law, such persons disclaim
all and any responsibility or liability, whether arising in tort, contract or
otherwise, which they might otherwise have in respect of this announcement.
The information in this announcement is subject to change without notice.
Statement of Directors' responsibilities
The Directors confirm that these condensed interim financial statements have
been prepared in accordance with UK adopted IAS 34 'Interim Financial
Reporting' and the Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules sourcebook of
the United Kingdom's Financial Conduct Authority and that the interim
management report includes a fair review of the information required by the
DTR 4.2.7 R and DTR 4.2.8 R, namely:
• an indication of important events that have occurred during the
first six months and their impact on the condensed set of financial
statements, and a description of the principal risks and uncertainties for the
remaining six months of the financial year; and
• material related-party transactions in the first six months and any
material changes in the related-party transactions described in the 2024
Annual Report.
The Directors of Synthomer plc are listed in the Synthomer plc annual report
for 31 December 2024.
A list of current directors is maintained on the Synthomer plc website:
www.synthomer.com.
The Directors are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of, amongst
other things, the financial and corporate governance information as provided
on the Synthomer website. Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the
preparation and dissemination of financial information may differ from
legislation in other jurisdictions.
On behalf of the Board of Directors
M
Willome
L Liu
Chief Executive
Officer
Chief Financial Officer
4 August
2025
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