17th Mar 2015 11:03
LONDON (Alliance News) - Cellular material technology company Zotefoams PLC on Tuesday said its pretax profit for 2014 edged higher on the back of a rise in revenue and said it would increase its final dividend slightly.
Zotefoams said its pretax profit for the year was GBP4 million, up from GBP3.9 million a year earlier. Total revenue, including its share of joint ventures, rose to GBP49.1 million from GBP44.6 million, while group revenue, excluding the joint venture contributions, rose to GBP49 million from GBP44.6 million.
Revenue was pushed higher by 61% growth in its high-performance products business, where it also saw margins improve substantially to 15% from 6% in 2013. Zotefoams also saw sales rise 34% for its MuCell Extrusion LLC microcellular foams technology unit.
The company said it has proposed a 2.8% increase to its final dividend to 3.7 pence per share from 3.6 pence a year earlier, bringing its total dividend payout to 5.45 pence from 5.3 pence.
"We entered 2015 with a larger-than-normal order backlog and a strong forward order book. In Polyolefin foams demand in Europe and North America has remained robust in the first two months of 2015 and we are also experiencing increasing levels of activity in Asia. Following very strong levels of growth in HPP and in our MEL licensing business we expect further progress in 2015," said Zotefoams Chairman Nigel Howard.
"While being mindful of currency and economic conditions, the board anticipates 2015 being another year of growth and remains confident about the long-term prospects for our business," Howard added.
Shares in Zotefoams were up 2.0% to 236.08 pence on Tuesday.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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