UK's Victrex to cut 10% jobs, warns of annual profit miss on Middle East worries
11/05/2026 08:08
May 11 (Reuters) - British high-performance polymer maker Victrex VCTX.L said on Monday it would reduce its workforce by around 10%, and warned annual profit would miss expectations as the Middle East conflict threatens to push up energy and raw material costs. The company expects underlying profit before tax of 42 million pounds to 44 million pounds ($57.1 million to $59.8 million) for fiscal 2026, below a company-compiled consensus estimate of 46.6 million pounds. Here are some details: Most employees will leave during the third quarter, with job cuts focused primarily on central functions, said Victrex, which had over 1,100 employees at the end of fiscal 2025. "We have not adapted quickly enough to changed market conditions and we must now relentlessly focus on improving our execution," CEO James Routh said. Shares in the company were down 4.4% in early trade. The Middle East conflict had no material impact on the business in the first half, with energy hedging and supplier contracts expected to provide protection in the second half of the year. Victrex is already factoring in expected energy and raw material cost inflation from the Iran war in its pricing discussions with customers. Its restructuring is part of a profit improvement plan targeting at least 10 million pounds in annualized cost savings from fiscal 2027. The company said in the first half, it took a 60.6 million pound non-cash impairment charge on its China manufacturing facility, which is operating well below its 1,500-metric-ton capacity. First-half underlying pre-tax profit fell 18% to 19 million pounds. ($1 = 0.7358 pounds) (Reporting by Nithyashree R B in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich) ((NithyashreeRB@thomsonreuters.com))