24th Feb 2015 07:44
LONDON (Alliance News) - Elementis PLC on Tuesday reported an uptick in pretax profit and sales for 2014 and hiked its dividend on the back of a solid performance in its North American specialty products business and in line trading in its chromium arm.
The FTSE 250-listed specialty chemicals company said its pretax profit for the year to the end of December was USD141.9 million, up from USD136 million last year.
Sales for the year rose to USD790.4 million, compared to USD776.8 million last year, as a strong performance in its specialty products unit was offset to a degree by the performances in its chromium and surfactants businesses, though Elementis said both performed in line with its expectations.
The group has hiked its dividend for the year, with its total dividend rising 11% to 15.40 cents from 13.93 cents in 2013. The total dividend was driven higher by a 19% hike to its special dividend payment for the year, up to 6.95 cents from 5.86 cents last year.
"Elementis delivered another year of solid financial performance," said Elementis Chief Executive David Dutro. "This continuous improvement has been achieved despite uneven regional and market growth, which further validates our strategy and underlines the resilience of Elementis."
"Although economic uncertainties in Europe and evolving dynamics in the oilfield sector remain evident, the current year has started on a solid footing and we are confident that the Group will make further progress in the coming year," Dutro added.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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