27th Mar 2020 09:52
(Alliance News) - Essentra PLC on Friday said it has chosen to cancel its final dividend for 2019 of 14.4 pence per share, due to extreme macro-economic uncertainty caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The FTSE 250 plastic and fibre products maker said for the first two months of 2019, there was a limited impact on trading caused by Covid-19, particularly in Essentra's China Filters & Components business.
In more recent weeks, the Milton Keynes-based group reported that demand in China has returned to more normalised levels.
However, in its Components division, Essentra said in the past week it has noted a high-single-digit slowdown in demand, particularly in Europe and the US as the epicentre for the outbreak shifts from the East to West.
In Packaging & Filters, the group said customer feedback has suggested that the outbreak poses a greater risk to supply chains, as opposed to underlying medium to longer term demand.
Looking ahead, Essentra said it has available liquidity of GBP225 million, comprising GBP125 million in cash and GBP100 million in committed bank facilities.
The group expects inevitable disruption to trading in the coming months, but said it was too early to call out the full extent of the virus's resulting impact on Essentra's annual performance.
Shares in Essentra were down 5.8% at 239.40 pence on Friday in London.
By Dayo Laniyan; [email protected]
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