Blackpool-based polymer company Victrex said its first quarter revenue rose 9% to £66.6 million and FY 2025 “is expected to see a significant step-up in our mega-programme revenues.”
The firm’s full year expectations remain unchanged.
Victrex provides high performance polymer solutions focused on the strategic markets of Automotive, Aerospace, Energy & Industrial, Electronics and Medical.
In a trading update for the first quarter of FY 2025, from October 1, 2024, to December 31, 2024, Victrex said: “The Group indicated at the FY 2024 preliminary results in December 2024 that we were seeing a solid start to FY 2025.
“Q1 saw good progress in both Group volume and revenue, against a weak quarter in the prior year. Q2 has also started solidly, with January well ahead of the prior year.
“Despite overall top-line progress, trading conditions remain mixed, with Medical revenues continuing to be subdued on a year-to-date basis, driven by ongoing industry destocking amongst medical device customers.
“Our Sustainable Solutions business is seeing year-on-year improvement across Aerospace, Electronics, Energy & Industrial and Value-Added Resellers.
“We are benefiting from incremental business in Aerospace, whilst Electronics is seeing an improvement in Semiconductor and in smart devices. Automotive performance is currently lower than the prior year, although we expect year-on-year improvement in E-mobility as platform build for 800 volt motors supports increased Victrex PEEK content per car.
“In Medical, inventory correction amongst major medical device customers continues, with limited visibility on improvement at this early stage. We continue to anticipate progress in Medical as we move through the year …
“FY 2025 is expected to see a significant step-up in our mega-programme revenues, with Aerospace Composites, E-mobility and Trauma set to show progress.
“In PEEK Knee, we are awaiting the outcome following the regulatory submission in India, supporting the potential of a commercial PEEK Knee in the market in 2025. Following good progress in clinical trials across Europe and India, site recruitment for the US clinical trial is moving forward.”
Victrex CEO Jakob Sigurdsson said: “The Group has delivered a solid start to the year and our full year expectations are unchanged. Based on our momentum at this early stage, our guidance remains for at least mid-single digit volume growth for FY 2025, with underlying PBT growth ahead of volume growth.
“Cost control, self-help measures, higher asset utilisation and lower raw material costs will help to underpin profit improvement in FY 2025. However, we are mindful that current trading conditions remain mixed, with continuing softness in Medical.
“As a result, profit growth will be weighted to the second half year. This reflects Medical and sales mix, the impact of currency – which is a £7m-£8m headwind to PBT for the year – being heavily weighted to H1 2025, and annualised costs from our new China facility. All of these factors are expected to limit our progress in the first half year, versus H1 2024.
“Victrex continues to have a strong long-term investment proposition. We have a robust, diversified and increasingly differentiated core business, growing commercialisation in our mega-programmes, well invested assets, and the prospect of further cashflow improvement. Overall, we are well-placed for the medium to longer term.”