31st Jul 2018 09:19
LONDON (Alliance News) - Specialty chemicals firm Elementis PLC affirmed its guidance for 2018 on Tuesday after a solid first half, while its USD600 million Mondo Minerals BV takeover is in doubt amid shareholder concerns.
Shares in the company were 3.8% higher on Tuesday morning at a price of 271.40 pence each.
Elementis announced an agreement to buy Dutch industrial talc additive firm Mondo at the end of June for USD600 million, to be paid for by a USD280 million rights issue and new debt of USD775 million.
However, Elementis said Tuesday it is "exploring its options" related to the transaction after some of its major shareholders voiced their concern.
Turning to Elementis's interim results, for the six months to June, pretax profit rose 4% to USD46.8 million as revenue increased 10% to USD421.4 million.
Elementis said growth has been driven in particular by its Personal Care and Coatings divisions.
The former's revenue rose 45% to USD112 million, while adjusted operating profit climbed 47% to USD30 million, driven by synergies from its SummitReheis acquisition, price increases, and product mix improvement.
In Coatings, revenue increased 5% to USD198 million with adjusted operating profit jumping 11% to USD30 million.
Elementis is paying an interim dividend of 2.95 US dollar cents per share, compared to 2.70 cents for the same period a year prior.
The company has reaffirmed its outlook for 2018, and said it is on track for further progress as it carries momentum into the second half of the year.
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