Vesuvius reports resilient H1 2019 performance

2019-08-01

Aug. 1, 2019 - Vesuvius plc, a global leader in molten metal flow engineering and technology, announces its unaudited results for the six months ended 30 June 2019.

Key Points

Resilient H1 2019 performance in line with prior year, despite challenging steel markets outside of China and light vehicle related markets in Foundry

Underlying revenue and trading profit (EBITA) down 1.1% and 0.5%, respectively

Return-on-Sales maintained at 11.1%

£5.8m of restructuring savings delivered in H1 2019

Expansion of our restructuring programmes targeting £16.0m of additional savings by 2021 including CCPI targeted synergies which have increased significantly versus initial expectations

Working capital to revenue ratio at 23.9%, in-line with the level at year-end 2018

Net Debt / LTM EBITDA at 1.3x, up from 1.0x at year-end 2018 due to the CCPI acquisition and IFRS 16 reclassification of leases

Interim dividend increased by 3.3% to 6.2 pence per share

Patrick André, Chief Executive of Vesuvius, commented:

“Vesuvius has delivered a solid set of results for H1 2019, despite the challenging market environment and we are announcing today a £16.0m increase in our targeted restructuring savings. Looking forward, assuming a stabilisation of our end markets at current levels, the Board expects our trading profit (EBITA) for 2019 to be broadly in-line with market expectations, supported by the acceleration and intensification of efforts to optimise our costs and remains confident in our ability to grow both trading profit (EBITA) and return-on-sales in the coming years.”