Shares of Blackpool-based high performance polymer company Victrex rose as much as 14% after it raised its profit guidance and appointed an interim chief financial officer.
In a trading update for the year ending September 30, 2026, Victrex said its underlying profit before tax (PBT) is now expected to be in the range of £45 million to £47 million, ahead of prior guidance of £42 million to £44 million.
“Since our Q3 trading update on 7 July 2026, strong momentum has continued into Q4, with year-on-year growth across our end markets driven by Aerospace, Value Added Resellers and Electronics,” said Victrex.
“We are also seeing good growth across all regions, with particularly strong growth in Asia Pacific.
“The previously announced 10% reduction in our headcount has been completed, with the initial benefits being seen during Q4 and contributing to at least £10m of annualised savings from our wider Profit Improvement Plan expected to be delivered in FY 2027.
“The Board now expects FY 2026 underlying PBT to be in the range of £45m to £47m, ahead of prior guidance of £42m to £44m.”
On its “strategic progress” Victrex said: “On 7 August 2026 we completed the divestment of our US-based Kleiss Gears business to The Heico Companies’ Industrial Technologies Group.
“Kleiss Gears is a highly specialised parts manufacturing business based in Grantsburg, Wisconsin. Following the successful seeding of the PEEK gears market using the expertise acquired with Kleiss Gears, the assets and expertise at Kleiss are no longer a key component of our strategy, with the divestment of this business reflecting our disciplined focus on core operations.
“For the FY 2026 results we will record an exceptional loss on disposal of approximately £3m.”
On its interim CFO appointment, Victrex said: “We are pleased to announce that Chris Gilbert has joined as the Group’s Interim Chief Financial Officer on 1 September 2026.
“Chris brings extensive sector experience, including at Elementis plc, as well as proven capability of delivering large-scale finance transformation projects with Deloitte LLP.
“As this is an interim appointment, Chris will not be appointed as a Director or join the Board of the Company.”
Victrex CEO James Routh said: “We have maintained our strong momentum during Q4, with revenue growth driven by improved performance across key end markets and all regions. As a result, we now expect full year underlying PBT for FY 2026 to be ahead of our prior guidance.
“We look forward to providing further detail on our compelling growth strategy and clear and differentiated value proposition during our Capital Markets Event later this month.”