Final Results

12 March 2026

Full Year Results for the twelve months ended 31 December 2025

Performance in line with expectations despite continued challenging end-market conditions

Vesuvius plc, a global leader in molten metal flow engineering and technology, announces its audited results for the twelve months ended 31 December 2025.

 (1) Like-for-like basis is at constant currency, excluding separately reported items and the impact of acquisitions and disposals.

(2) For definitions of Alternative Performance Measures (APMs), refer to Note 15 in the Condensed Group Financial Statements.

(3) Net debt / EBITDA on a pro-forma basis, adjusting for a full-year EBITDA contribution from acquisitions made mid-year

Highlights

· Challenging year with difficult end market conditions, particularly in EU+UK 

· Group revenue grew by 0.7% on a like-for-like basis while RoS reduced by 170bps to 8.4%. EMEA Region accounted for 80% of the trading profit reduction

· Steel Division

o  Steel production declined 1.9% overall in 2025 but grew 1.3% excluding China, Iran, Russia and Ukraine, despite a further increase of Chinese steel exports

o  Positive net pricing re-established in H2, driven by Flow Control, although insufficient to fully cover the shortfall in H1

o  Market share gains overall driven by strong performance in Asia more than compensating slight erosion in the Americas

· Foundry Division

o  Foundry markets outside of India and China remained weak

o  Market declines partially offset by market share gains

o  Net pricing remained slightly negative in H2 but very substantially improved as compared with H1

o  Temporary production inefficiencies experienced in H2 from site rationalisations

· Accelerated delivery of cost reduction programme generated £17.8m savings in-year

· New product sales ratio increased to 20.5%, reaching our 2026 target of 20% a year early, with a strong pipeline of new products for the years ahead

· Integration of acquired businesses of MMS and PiroMET proceeding well

· Proposed final dividend of 16.5p (FY24: 16.4p), bringing the full year dividend to 23.6p

· Net debt / EBITDA at year-end of 2.0x (adjusting for 12-months contribution from acquisitions) 

Comment from Patrick André, CEO:

"2025 has been a challenging year for Vesuvius, specifically in EMEA where both our Steel and Foundry end-markets contracted and where we experienced significant price pressure. We were, however, able to re-establish a globally positive net pricing in the second half of the year and were also able to offset part of the negative market impact with significant and above-expectation progress on our cost reduction programme and with market share gains. We successfully completed our capacity expansion programme, positioning us ideally for the upcoming recovery of our markets. We also completed the acquisition of the PiroMET and MMS businesses, reinforcing our presence in the fast-growing steel market in Turkey and non-ferrous Foundry market.

The impact of the recent events in the Middle East remains difficult to assess, but at this stage we still anticipate that 2026 will mark a transition to recovery in the Steel and Foundry markets, with in particular the impact of trade protection measures in Steel starting to have a meaningful impact on our Steel markets as from the latter part of the year.

In 2026 our performance will benefit from the continued execution of our cost reduction programme, from the full year contribution of our recent acquisitions and some modest volume growth. On this basis, we expect our cash flow to grow in 2026, both from improved trading profit and from investment capex returning to a normalised level, both of which will also reduce leverage.

Whilst we are mindful of the current geopolitical uncertainty, absent an extended disruption, we continue to expect to deliver profit growth in 2026 in line with expectations, on a constant currency basis. 

We continue to target a RoS of 12.5%, although delivery, along with our free cash flow target, has been, until now, held back by the extended weakness in our end markets. However, with the prospect of more favourable market conditions from 2027 and the support of our ongoing self-help measures, we remain confident that our business model has the potential to achieve this RoS target and to generate significant free cashflow."

Presentation of Full Year 2025 Results

Vesuvius management will make a presentation to analysts and investors on 12 March 2026 at 09:00 UK time at the London Stock Exchange, 10 Paternoster Square, London EC4M 7LS. For those unable to attend, the event will be livestreamed and can be accessed by clicking here. Participants can also join via an audio conference call. Please click here to register. Once registered, you will be provided with the information needed to join the conference, including dial-in numbers and passcodes. Be sure to save this information in your calendar. 

The person responsible for arranging the release of this announcement on behalf of Vesuvius is Mark Collis, Chief Financial Officer.

About Vesuvius plc

Vesuvius is a global leader in molten metal flow engineering and technology principally serving process industries operating in challenging high‑temperature conditions.

We develop innovative and customised solutions, often used in extremely demanding industrial environments, which enable our customers to make their manufacturing processes safer, more efficient and more sustainable. These include flow control solutions, advanced refractories and other consumable products and increasingly, related technical services including data capture.

We have a worldwide presence. We serve our customers through a network of cost-efficient manufacturing plants located close to their own facilities, and embed our industry experts within their operations, who are all supported by our global technology centres.

Our core competitive strengths are our market and technology leadership, strong customer relationships, well established presence in developing markets and our global reach, all of which facilitate the expansion of our addressable markets.

Our ultimate goal is to create value for our customers, and to deliver sustainable, profitable growth for our shareholders giving a superior return on their investment whilst providing each of our employees with a safe workplace where they are recognised, developed and properly rewarded.

We think beyond today to create solutions that will shape the future. 

Forward looking statements

This announcement contains certain forward looking statements which may include reference to one or more of the following: the Group's financial condition, results of operations, cash flows, dividends, financing plans, business strategies, operating efficiencies or synergies, budgets, capital and other expenditures, competitive positions, growth opportunities for existing products, plans and objectives of management and other matters. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of terms such as 'intend', 'aim', 'project', 'anticipate', 'estimate', 'plan', 'believe', 'expect', 'forecasts', 'may', 'targets', 'could', 'should', 'will', 'continue' or similar words.

Such forward looking statements, including, without limitation, those relating to the future business prospects, revenue, working capital, liquidity, capital needs, interest costs and income, in each case relating to Vesuvius, wherever they occur in this announcement, are necessarily based on assumptions reflecting the views of Vesuvius. Although Vesuvius makes such statements based on assumptions that it believes to be reasonable, by their nature, these forward looking statements are subject to a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors beyond Vesuvius' control that could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward looking statements. Such forward looking statements should, therefore, be considered in light of various important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from estimates or projections contained in the forward looking statements. These include without limitation: economic and business cycles; the terms and conditions of Vesuvius' financing arrangements; foreign currency rate fluctuations; competition in Vesuvius' principal markets; acquisitions or disposals of businesses or assets; and trends in Vesuvius' principal industries.

The foregoing list of important factors is not exhaustive. When considering forward looking statements, careful consideration should be given to the foregoing factors and other uncertainties and events, as well as factors described in documents the Company files with the UK regulator from time to time including its annual reports and accounts. In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the forward looking events discussed in this announcement might not occur and such forward looking statements are not guarantees or predictions of Vesuvius' future performance. You should not place undue reliance on such forward looking statements which speak only as of the date on which they are made. Past performance is no guide to future performance and persons needing advice should consult an independent financial adviser.

Neither Vesuvius nor any of its affiliates, associates, employees, directors, officers or advisers assumes any responsibility for the accuracy or completeness or undertakes any obligation, to update or revise any of these forward-looking statements to reflect any new information or any changes in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such forward-looking statement is based save in respect of any requirement under applicable law or regulation.

Vesuvius plc, 165 Fleet Street, London EC4A 2AE

Registered in England and Wales No. 8217766

LEI: 213800ORZ521W585SY02

www.vesuvius.com

Vesuvius plc

Full Year Results for the twelve months ended 31 December 2025

In 2025, we have shown resilience despite difficult market conditions, thanks to a strong focus on cost reduction and to the continuing benefits of our technology strategy.

Resilient revenue

In 2025, revenue was £1,809.5m, an increase of 0.7%, like-for-like, compared to 2024, and a 0.6% decline on a reported basis, reflecting FX headwinds partially offset by the contribution from acquisitions. The small underlying increase in revenue was principally due to modest growth in both sales volume, +£4.2m, and pricing of +£7.7m. Revenue in our Steel Division grew slightly (+1.4%) on a like-for-like basis reflecting both volume growth and pricing, while in Foundry, revenue reduced by 1.5% on an underlying basis, principally reflecting lower market activity, which was only partially offset by market share gains, and broadly flat pricing.

Trading profit was £151.1m, a reduction of 17.0% on a like-for-like basis and a decrease of 19.6% on a reported basis. Our £55m multi-year cost-saving programme delivered a £17.8m in-year benefit, ahead of our initial expectations, while net pricing was -£11.5m, reflecting a net negative in H1 and a small net positive in H2. Volume and mix had a negative impact on profit, reflecting a combination of shifts in volume regionally and product rotation among customers, largely in EMEA. The Group achieved a return on sales of 8.4% in 2025, down 170 basis points versus FY24 on a like-for-like basis. This reflects the decline in our trading profit, on broadly flat revenues.  

The overall decline in trading profit is principally attributable to a drop in profitability in EMEA across both divisions, which accounts for approx. 80% of the reduction in group profit year-on-year, driven by the challenging market conditions in this region.

Difficult market background in both Steel and Foundry

Global steel production remained subdued in the world with a 1.9% decline overall, including China which declined 4.4%. Excluding China, steel production increased 0.9% for the full year (Source: World Steel Association), despite a further significant increase in steel exports from China. Most of this growth was however concentrated in India (+9% year-on-year, excluding induction furnaces) and South-East Asia (+4.7%). USMCA was mostly stable (+0.8%), with growth in the US mostly compensated by a significant decline in Mexico and Canada. Steel production declined in EMEA (-1.3%) and in South America (-1.3%).

Chinese net steel exports continued to rise during the year, reaching 113 million tonnes, an increase of c. 9 million tonnes versus 2024, constraining steel production outside China. However, over 60 countries worldwide are now introducing some form of protective measures against unfair trade in steel. This, alongside domestic policy actions announced by the Chinese Government to reduce production and ensure regular payment of export taxes, is ultimately expected to support a reduction in Chinese exports and therefore support an increase in steel production outside of China. This should in particular benefit the EU and the Americas.

Foundry markets, with the exception of India and China, remained very weak throughout 2025, in particular in Europe, which continued to be impacted by the decline in auto manufacturing. North Asia was also weak, with auto exports to China in decline due to domestic competition, and exports to the US impacted by increased tariffs. The market in South America, in particular Brazil, was also negatively impacted by Chinese castings imports and US tariffs.

Steel Division

The Steel Division delivered modest revenue growth (+1.4%, like-for-like) in 2025, mostly driven by Advanced Refractories (+3.9% revenue growth like-for-like), with stable revenue from Flow Control. On a reported basis, revenue was flat, reflecting the impact of FX headwinds, the contribution from the PiroMET acquisition and like-for-like revenue growth, supported by modest increases in both sales volume and pricing.

In the Steel Division, both Flow Control and Advanced Refractories gained market share overall, with gains in Asia and EMEA more than offsetting a slight erosion in the Americas. 

Trading profit for the Steel Division fell by 18.3% on a like-for-like basis, resulting in a drop in return on sales of 210bps. The profit impact came substantially from the EMEA region due to a combination of adverse product mix and pricing. However, while pricing net of cost inflation remained negative for the full year, the Steel Division was able to re-establish a positive net pricing in H2 reflecting, in particular, the technology leadership position of Flow Control. The division was also negatively impacted by some temporary manufacturing inefficiencies in North America related to the ramp-up of production to satisfy the growing demand in the US. Steel Division profits were also supported by the strong cost reduction actions undertaken as part of the group-wide cost saving programme.

Foundry Division

Foundry revenue reduced by 1.5% on a like-for-like basis, as volume fell, reflecting the declining market in most regions outside of India and China, and only partially compensated by market share gains. On a reported basis, revenue declined by 2.0% despite the contribution of the acquired MMS business. Trading profit for the Foundry division fell 11.2% on a like-for-like basis, reflecting negative net pricing (largely in H1) and product margin mix, partially offset by an acceleration in cost savings. Return on sales declined 70 bps. The challenges in profitability arose in EMEA and South America, while other major regions grew profitably. In 2025, the EU+UK represented 32% of Foundry revenue, down from 37% five years ago.

Good cash generation and strong balance sheet

The business delivered adjusted operating cashflow of £113.3m in 2025, which represented a 75% cash conversion rate for the year. Free cash flow was £36.0m, after cash capex (net of proceeds) of £81.0m (2024: £96.5m). We maintained a strict focus on working capital management and reduced our working capital by £38m at year end versus the position at 30 June 2025, despite the addition of working capital from the MMS acquisition. Working capital intensity was stable since the half year, at 23.4% revenue, which is a slight increase compared to intensity of 22.9% at 31 December 2024.

Our balance sheet had a net debt / EBITDA ratio of 2.0x at the year end, (31 December 2024: 1.3x; 30 June 2025: 1.8x) on a pro-forma basis, adjusting for the EBITDA contribution from acquisitions made through the year, at the top end of our 1.0 - 2.0x range (2.1x without adjustment for acquisitions). This reflects £36.0m of free cashflow, £34.8m of payments relating to the share buyback, the acquisitions of PiroMET and the MMS business (total cash outflow of £38.9m) and dividends of £57.9m. Our year-end leverage based on our covenant calculation, which among other things adjusts for acquisitions made during the year, is 2.0x. We expect leverage to fall in 2026 as cashflow benefits from lower capex, which is expected to be in the range £70m-75m in 2026, and higher trading profit.

Continued progress in the efficiency of R&D and new product development

We continue to invest in research and development despite the difficult market conditions, spending £35.3m in 2025 (1.9% of revenue). This cost was fully expensed in our income statement. Our focus areas are: (1) innovation in materials science, with an objective to continuously improve the performance of our consumables; and (2) the development of mechatronics solutions to enable our customers to substitute the operators who manipulate our consumable refractories with robots and, by doing so, improve their safety, reliability, cost and quality performance.

Our New Product Sales ratio, defined as the percentage of our sales realised from products which didn't exist five years ago, reached 20.5% for the Group in 2025. This is up from 19.1% in 2024 and exceeds our Group target of over 20% by 2026. We launched 24 new products in 2025 and have an extensive pipeline of products under development which will be progressively introduced in the market over the coming years and will support our ambition to grow our revenue and profitability.

Our robotics business is also expanding, with an increase in Flow Control robots shipped, increasing to nine in the year versus six in 2024, reflecting a significant positive momentum in orders over the last two years. Flow Control robotic systems shipped in 2025 include two robots for a major customer in Mexico for a new mill currently under construction, expanding on the success of similar systems installed at the same customer in Brazil. Our Advanced Refractories robotics solutions are seeing similar positive progress, with contracts for four robots agreed in 2025, and a strong pipeline of opportunities in the year ahead, in combination with the acquired business, PiroMET.

Cost optimisation programme delivering above expectations

Our cost optimisation programme, launched in late 2023, initially aimed to deliver £30m of recurring cash savings by 2026, and has been progressively upgraded and expanded, now with target to deliver £55m of savings by 2028. The savings reported under this programme are structural in nature meaning that we do not expect them to reverse when market conditions improve.

The programme covers all our worldwide activities and focuses on operational improvement, lean initiatives, automation and digitalisation as well as optimisation of our manufacturing footprint.

In 2025, we delivered cost savings under this programme of £17.8m, bringing the total delivered in two years to £30.8m, ahead of the initial target both in quantum and timing. Of the savings delivered in-year, slightly under half were in the Foundry Division, reflecting swift action taken to address costs in a challenging environment. We expect to deliver incremental in-year savings of c. £10m in 2026.

The one-off costs to deliver these savings are shown as separately reported items, and in FY25 were £18.9m (FY24: £14.6m).

Strategic acquisitions

On 28 February 2025 we completed the acquisition of a 61.65% shareholding in PiroMET, a Turkish refractory company. The acquisition strengthens our Advanced Refractory business in the fast-growing region of EEMEA and will also allow us to leverage PiroMET's expertise in robotics, where we have a strong order-book for the coming years.

On 12 November 2025, we completed the acquisition of the Molten Metal Systems ("MMS") business of Morgan Advanced Materials plc, which brings industry-leading technology in crucibles to our Foundry business, accelerating our exposure to the faster-growing non-ferrous market (expected to reach c. 27% of revenue in 2026, from 21%), together with increased exposure to the fast-growing Indian market.

Ongoing commitment to high safety performance

In 2025 we achieved a Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate (the number of work-related injuries necessitating a lost work-shift, per million hours worked) of 0.7, slightly higher than in 2024 due to a higher frequency rate at our newly acquired PiroMET business in Turkey, which we expect to improve as integration progresses. This still positions Vesuvius well ahead of the industry average and is the result of continuous efforts to integrate safety as the number one priority in the company culture.  However, tragically, we suffered one work-related fatality in our workforce during the year, as a result of a public road traffic accident in which one of our employees, driving back from a site visit, passed away. We remain committed to our goal of zero accidents, and we will strive towards this objective.

Significant progress on our journey to net zero

We continued progressively to implement our action plan to decarbonise our activities. By the end of 2025, we had reduced our carbon intensity (CO2e tonnes per million tonnes product sold) by 31.4% as compared with our 2019 reference year on a pro forma basis (-47.4% on a reported basis), significantly ahead of the 2025 objective of a 20% reduction. This was achieved through carbon-free electricity sourcing, improving energy efficiency, and moving from higher to lower carbon-emitting energy sources. 

Dividend and share buybacks

Vesuvius has a progressive dividend policy. As a minimum we will maintain our dividend per share year-on-year and increase it, through the cycle, in line with earnings per share growth. In addition, where cash is not required for additional investment in the business and while maintaining a strong and prudent balance sheet, we will return cash to shareholders via other means, such as share buybacks.

The Board has recommended a final dividend of 16.5 pence per share (FY24: 16.4p), which together with the interim dividend paid of 7.1 pence per share, brings the total dividend for the year to 23.6 pence per share, a 0.4% increase compared to the total dividend for 2024 (23.5p). This represents a dividend cover of 1.5x compared to adjusted EPS for 2025.

Over 2025 we completed our second £50m share buyback (initiated in November 2024), resulting in a total cash outflow relating to share repurchases of £34.8m in FY25. In total 8.6m shares were repurchased during the year, reducing our shares in issue by c. 3%.

Outlook

The impact of the recent events in the Middle East remains difficult to assess, but at this stage we still anticipate that 2026 will mark a transition to recovery in the Steel and Foundry markets, with, in particular, the impact of trade protection measures in Steel starting to have a meaningful impact on our Steel markets as from the latter part of the year.

In 2026 our performance will benefit from the continued execution of our cost reduction programme, from the full year contribution of our recent acquisitions and some modest volume growth. On this basis, we expect our cash flow to grow in 2026, both from improved trading profit and from investment capex returning to a normalised level, both of which will also reduce leverage.

Whilst we are mindful of the current geopolitical uncertainty, absent an extended disruption, we continue to expect to deliver profit growth in 2026 in line with expectations, on a constant currency basis. 

We continue to target a RoS of 12.5%, although delivery, along with our free cash flow target, has been, until now, held back by the extended weakness in our end markets. However, with the prospect of more favourable market conditions from 2027 and the support of our ongoing self-help measures, we remain confident that our business model has the potential to achieve this RoS target and to generate significant free cashflow.

Operational Review

Vesuvius comprises two Divisions, Steel and Foundry. The Steel Division operates as three business lines, Flow Control, Advanced Refractories and Sensors & Probes. Changes described are versus 2024 on a like for like basis, excluding the impact of FX and acquisitions, unless otherwise noted.

Steel Division

Our Steel Division reported revenues of £1,342.6m in 2025, an increase of 1.4% on a like-for-like basis but flat on a reported basis (-0.1%), reflecting currency headwinds. The slight like-for-like revenue growth was driven by market share gains and modest pricing increases. 

Trading profit in the Steel Division fell by 18.3% on a like-for-like basis to £120.0m, as a result of inflationary costs not being entirely covered by price rises during the first half, especially in EMEA and China. The Division reverted to positive net pricing during the second half of the year, although not sufficiently to compensate for the negative impact of the first half. We also saw some customers, especially in EMEA, temporarily switching to lower value, lower margin products. EMEA accounted for 72% of the year-on-year fall in profit. Our cost-saving programme has delivered in line with expectations, partially offsetting some of these negative impacts. The drop in trading profit on broadly flat revenue has resulted in the Division's return on sales reducing to 8.9%, a fall of 210bps.

Flow Control

In 2025, revenue in the Group's Flow Control business was flat on a like-for-like basis at £750.9m (a decline of 2.4% on a reported basis reflecting FX headwinds). This performance was driven by positive pricing and broadly flat sales volumes.

In the Americas, like-for-like revenue grew 0.4%, with positive pricing partially offset by slightly negative volume growth.

In EMEA, our revenue declined 3.3% on a like-for-like basis compared to 2024 with positive pricing and volume growth in EEMEA not compensating a significant volume decline in EU+UK.

In Asia Pacific, revenue grew 3.3% on a like-for-like basis, driven by ongoing good growth in India, double digit volume growth in South-East Asia and high single-digit volume growth in China, despite the steel market contracting in this country.

Advanced Refractories

Advanced Refractories reported revenue of £555.6m in 2025, an increase of 3.9% on a like-for-like basis. This principally reflected an increase in sales volume (both market growth and market share gains across the business) and a small contribution from price increases. In Asia-Pacific, revenue grew 10.1% like-for-like, driven by double-digit volume growth in India, outperforming a strong market, and good growth in China, despite a declining market. In the Americas, positive volume growth in the US and South America was offset by significant declines in Canada and Mexico. In EMEA, our sales progressed moderately, driven by market share gains in EU+UK.

Sensors & Probes

Revenue in Sensors & Probes was £36.1m in 2025, down 4.5% year-on-year on a like-for-like basis, driven by declining demand in Europe, Canada, Mexico, and South America, only partially compensated by growth in the US.

Foundry Division

Our Foundry Division continued to experience a difficult trading environment in 2025, with reported revenue of £466.9m in 2025, a like-for-like decrease of 1.5%, reflecting contracting revenue in the Americas (-3.4%) and EMEA (-4.5%), which were only partially offset by strong growth in Asia-Pacific (+3.2%), supported by India which delivered double-digit growth despite disruption related to US tariffs and China which grew mid-single digit, like-for-like. The fall in revenue in EMEA and the Americas was due to market volume declines and slightly negative sales prices evolution, only partially offset by market share gains. 

The Division benefited from the acquisition of the MMS business, completed in November 2025. This acquisition is delivering as expected.

Trading profit and return on sales contracted 11.2% and 70bps respectively, on a like-for-like basis, principally reflecting the decline in overall volumes and the negative net pricing performance during the first half of the year. Net pricing, while remaining slightly negative, improved significantly in H2. This, together with ambitious new cost saving projects and the delivery of synergies from the acquisition of the MMS business, should provide a solid foundation for trading profit growth in 2026.

Financial Review

2025 performance overview

Income statement

2025 was a challenging year, with broadly flat revenue and a decline in like-for-like trading profit and return on sales, due to adverse pricing and product mix. Cashflow reduced along with profit, while cash conversion was good at 75%. This has enabled the Board to recommend a final dividend slightly increased compared to the amount per share in 2024 alongside the buyback of shares earlier in 2025 and the delivery of two strategic acquisitions.

Revenue for the year decreased by 0.6% on a reported basis and grew by 0.7% on a like-for-like basis, reflecting an FX headwind of 2.5% and a small contribution from acquisitions in the year. Like-for-like revenue performance was driven by modest volume growth of 0.2%, a small increase in headline pricing of 0.4%. On a reported basis, the Steel and Foundry Division revenue decreased by 0.1% and 2.0%, respectively, in the year. Acquisitions added a further 1.3% to top-line growth.

We achieved a trading profit of £151.1m, down 19.6% on a reported basis of which 17.0% was like-for-like performance and 5.1% related to FX headwinds, partially offset by a contribution from acquisitions. Within the like-for-like profit changes, there was a £30.4m decline due to the drop-through from volume and product mix, and a £11.5m decline from net pricing. The full-year impact of net pricing was driven by a -£11.7m impact in H1 and neutral net pricing in H2. In addition, there was a further contribution from our ongoing cost-saving programme of £17.8m and a net -£2.0m relating to one-off impacts that will reverse in 2026, being the impact of lower incentive payments, offset by £6.0m in one-off inefficiencies earlier described. There was also a -£4.3m impact to trading profit relating to other items. Return on sales of 8.4% was down 170bps on a like-for-like basis.

Investment in R&D is central to our strategy of delivering market-leading product technology and services to customers. In 2025 we spent £35.3m on R&D activities (2024: £36.6m, on a constant currency basis), which represents 1.9% of our revenue (2024: 2.1%) and a small decrease in expenditure on a constant currency basis.

Net Interest cost for FY25 increased to £18.4m (2024: £16.2m), due to a combination of a rise in interest due to a higher debt balance, and a reduction in finance income due to a reduction in deposits held in Argentina, partially offset by lower interest rates charged on our RCF.

Profit from joint ventures and associates was broadly flat year-on-year at £1.0m (2024: £1.1m).

Separately reported items of £36.5m were recognised in FY25 compared to £34.3m in FY24. £10.6m relates to amortisation of acquired intangible assets (FY24: £10.0m), which is consistently excluded from our adjusted profit measure. In addition, one-off costs of £18.9m were incurred relating to our cost saving programme (FY24: £14.6m) and £7.0m in relation to integration and acquisition costs. Due to the one-off nature of both these charges, they are shown as separately reported.

Adjusted profit before tax was £133.7m, down 22.7% versus last year (£172.9m) on a reported basis. Including separately reported items, PBT of £97.2m was 29.9% lower than last year (£138.6m).

The Group's Adjusted Effective Tax Rate ("ETR"), based on the income tax costs associated with adjusted performance of £36.5m (2024: £47.2m), was 27.5% (2024: 27.5%). The Group's total income tax costs for the period include a credit within separately reported items of £4.1m (2024: £8.9m).

We expect the Group's ETR in 2026 to be in line with that in 2025, dependent on profit mix and any one-off items.

Non-controlling interests principally comprise the minority holdings in Indian subsidiaries. Profit attributable to non-controlling interests decreased slightly to £12.6m in 2025 (2024: £13.1m) reflecting some decline in the profit after tax in those subsidiaries plus a currency headwind.

Adjusted EPS at 34.2p was 17.7% lower on a like-for-like basis than 2024 (43.3p), reflecting lower earnings, partially offset by a reduction in average shares in issue from 260.0m to 247.1m (basic), reflecting the conclusion of the second share buyback programme. Reported EPS of 21.1p is 37.0% lower than the prior year (2024: 33.5p) reflecting the factors described above.

Dividend

The Board has recommended a final dividend of 16.5 pence per share (2024: 16.4 pence) to be paid, subject to shareholder approval, on 6 July 2026 to shareholders on the register on 29 May 2026. When added to the 2025 interim dividend of 7.1 pence per share, this represents a full-year dividend of 23.6 pence per share. The last date for receipt of elections from shareholders for the Vesuvius Dividend Reinvestment Plan will be 12 June 2026.

Cost saving programme

At the start of 2024 we initiated an efficiency programme to realise recurring savings of £30m per annum by 2026, of which £30.8m has been delivered by the end of 2025 (£13.0m in 2024 and £17.8m in 2025), significantly ahead of schedule as we accelerated our savings in response to the difficult trading environment. Our target is now to deliver in aggregate £55m savings by 2028. We expect to deliver further cost savings of c. £10m in 2026. These restructuring costs are excluded from trading profit, allowing for a clear measure of our operating performance.

Cash flow and balance sheet

Our cash management performance was solid, achieving a 75% cash conversion (2024: 69%), reflecting broadly flat trade working capital with a -£1.9m outflow, a reduction of £10.6m in other working capital and the conclusion of our investment in strategic capacity expansion, resulting in a reduction in net cash capex from £96.5m in 2024 to £81.0m in 2025.

We measure working capital both in terms of actual cash flow movements, and as a percentage of sales revenue. Trade working capital intensity in 2025 increased slightly to 23.4% (2024: 22.9%), measured on a 12-month moving average basis. The change was principally due to an increase in debtor days on a 12-month average basis by 1.6 days, partially offset by a slight increase in creditor days by 0.4 days and a reduction in inventory days by 1.3. These changes were largely driven by Flow Control, where working capital intensity improved modestly due to a material reduction in inventory offset by an increase in debtors, while trade working capital slightly increased at both Foundry and Advanced Refractories, due to a small movement in inventory.

Free cash flow was £36.0m in 2025 (2024: £57.8m).

Capital expenditure

Net cash capital expenditure in 2025 was £81.0m (2024: £96.5m) and £99.6m including capitalised leases (2024: £116.1m) of which £75.8m was in the Steel Division (2024: £92.2m) and £23.8m in the Foundry Division (2024: £23.9m). Net cash capex in 2026 is expected to be c. £70m-75m, reflecting lower growth capex, having concluded our investment programme earlier in 2025.

Net debt

Net debt on 31 December 2025 was £452.4m, a £123.2m increase compared to £329.2m on 31 December 2024, due to free cash flow of £36.0m offset principally by dividends of £57.9m, share buybacks of £34.8m and acquisitions in the year of £38.9m.

At the end of 2025, the pro-forma net debt to EBITDA ratio was 2.0x (2024: 1.3x) and EBITDA to interest was 14.1x (2024: 18.4x). These ratios are monitored regularly to ensure that the Group has sufficient financing available to run the business and fund future growth.

The Group's debt facilities have two financial covenants: the ratios of net debt to EBITDA (maximum 3.25x limit) and EBITDA to interest (minimum 4x limit). Certain adjustments are made to the net debt calculations for bank covenant purposes, the most significant of which is to exclude the impact of IFRS 16, and to adjust for acquisitions or disposals part-way through the financial year. On a covenant calculation basis, the net debt to EBITDA ratio at 31 December 2025 was 2.0x.

The Group had committed borrowing facilities of £751.6m as of 31 December 2025 (2024: £669.6m), of which £195.5m was undrawn (2024: £202.5m).

Return on invested capital (ROIC)

Our ROIC (excluding goodwill on our balance sheet from the acquisition of Foseco in 2008), for 2025 was 10.5% (2024: 14.4%). ROIC is our key measure of return from the Group's invested capital and excludes the impact of goodwill and intangibles that arose on the acquisition of Foseco in 2008, as we believe that this removes the distortive effects of that acquisition and provides a clearer measure of management performance.

Pensions

The Group has a limited number of historical defined benefit plans located mainly in the UK, USA, Germany and Belgium. The main plans in the UK and USA are closed to further benefits accrual. All of the liabilities in the UK were insured following a buy-in agreement with Pension Insurance Corporation plc ("PIC") in 2021. This buy-in agreement secured an insurance asset from PIC that matches the remaining pension liabilities of the UK Plan, with the result that the Company no longer bears any investment, longevity, interest rate or inflation risks in respect of the UK Plan.

The Group's net pension liability at 31 December 2025 was £31.6m (2024: £37.4m liability). 

Technical guidance for 2026

Depreciation in 2026 is expected to be in the range £75m - £80m and the net finance charge is expected to be c. £20m - 21m. We anticipate expenses (excluding any impairments) in relation to the cost-reduction programme of c. £10m-12m. We anticipate a non-controlling interest charge of c. £15.5m. Based on 28 February 2026 FX rates, FY25 revenue would retranslate to £1,804.4m (a £5.1m headwind) and trading profit to £147.6m (a £3.5m headwind).

Financial Risk Factors

The Group's approach to risk management, including the mitigations in place for our principal risks, is detailed below. We consider the main financial risk faced by the Group to be a material business interruption incident leading to reduced revenue and profit. We also manage broad financial risks such as cost inflation, bank financing and capital market activity and to a lesser extent foreign exchange and interest rate movements (see Note 25 to the Group Financial Statements). We mitigate liquidity risk by financing using both the bank and private placement debt markets and we mitigate refinancing risk by seeking to avoid a concentration of debt maturities in any one calendar year. 

Principal Risks and Uncertainties

The Board exercises oversight of the Group's Principal Risks and reviews the way in which the Group manages those risks. The Board takes overall responsibility for establishing and maintaining a system of risk management and internal control and for reviewing its effectiveness.

The Board reviewed the Principal Risks and Uncertainties facing the Group during 2025 as part of their normal process and in the context of the preparation for changes to the UK Corporate Governance Code. As a result of this review the Board resolved to remove the previously identified principal risk of Protectionism and Globalisation as a separate principal risk and incorporate the relevant elements into the End-market risk. In addition, the material elements of the formerly identified principal risk of Environmental, Social and Governance focused on ensuring that the Group's products remain relevant to customers in meeting their own ESG requirements, and this has now been included within the existing principal risk of Failure to Secure Innovation. As a consequence, we have ceased to identify Environmental, Social and Governance as a separate principal risk. The Principal Risks which could have a material impact on the Group's performance are as follows:

 - End market risks

 - Product quality failure

 - Complex and changing regulatory environment

 - Failure to secure innovation

 - Business interruption

 - People, culture and performance

 - Health and safety

Risk update

During 2025 certain issues arose that are reflected in the Group's Principal Risks and Uncertainties. In each case, the business impact was limited by the mitigations already in place and by the Group's risk management processes. These were: End-market risks, where 2025 saw continuing volatility in our markets, with lower than anticipated economic activity in certain key markets such as Europe, and where unpredictable systems of tariffs and trade protections introduced and subsequently amended drove uncertainty in our end-markets; Business interruption, where cyber security continues to present a significant risk and is an issue that grows both in its scope and sophistication; Product Quality failure, where whilst the financial impact on the Group from any product quality issues is well understood, we have increased our focus on this critical area; and People, culture and performance, where the environment to attract and retain high-calibre people across all levels of our business continues to be increasingly competitive in many of our labour markets. Each of these risks has the potential to impact the Principal Risks facing the Group; specifically End market risk; Complex and changing regulatory environment; People, culture and performance; and the risk of Business interruption.

Further information on these Principal Risks and the way in which the Group manages them are detailed in the 2025 Annual Report.

12 March 2026

(1) Adjusted Performance Measures. See Note 15.

(2) Cost reduction programme expenses and Asset impairments for 2024 have been restated to be consistent with their presentation in 2025.

(3) Earnings per share are attributable to the ordinary equity holders of the parent.

Of the pre-tax separately reported items, £32.6m (2024: £34.3m) would form part of Administration, selling and distribution costs, which including these amounts would total £342.2m (2024: £350.0m) and £3.9m (2024: £nil) would form part of Cost of goods sold, which including these amounts would total £1,352.7m (2024: £1,316.4m).

(1) For the year ended 31 December 2024, Net cash inflow from operating activities (Interest paid) and Net cash outflow from financing activities (Payment of lease liabilities (principal)) have been updated as a result of the reclassification of £3.0m for interest on lease liabilities to be consistent with its presentation in 2025.

Group Statement of Changes in Equity

Notes to the Group Financial Statements

1 Basis of preparation

1.1 Basis of preparation

The financial information in this preliminary announcement has been extracted from the audited Group Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2025 and does not constitute statutory accounts within the meaning of section 434 of the Companies Act 2006. The Group Financial Statements and this preliminary announcement were approved by the Board of Directors on 11 March 2026.

The auditors have reported on the Group Financial Statements for the years ended 31 December 2025 and 31 December 2024 under section 495 of the Companies Act 2006. The auditors' reports are unqualified and do not contain a statement under section 498(2) or (3) of the Companies Act 2006. The Group's statutory financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2024 have been filed with the Registrar of Companies and those for the year ended 31 December 2025 will be filed following the Company's Annual General Meeting.

The Group financial statements have been prepared in accordance with UK-adopted international accounting standards (IFRS) and with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 as applicable to companies reporting under those standards. The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention, with the exception of fair value measurement applied to defined benefit pension plans, investments, share-based payments and derivative financial instruments.

The same accounting policies, presentation and computation methods are followed in this preliminary announcement as in the preparation of the Group Financial Statements. The accounting policies have been applied consistently by the Group.

1.2 Going concern

The Group's available liquidity stood at £386.1m at 31 December 2025, down from £389.0m at 31 December 2024. The Directors have prepared cash flow forecasts for the Group for the period to 30 June 2027. These forecasts reflect an assessment of current and future end-market conditions, and their impact on the Group's future trading performance.

The Directors have also considered a severe but plausible downside scenario, based on a combination of lower business activity and lower profitability over the going concern period. This downside scenario assumes:

· a decline in business activity level in 2026 and 2027 by 5% compared to 2025 performance,

· a decline in profitability (Return on Sales) of 1.5% compared to 2025 performance, 

· working capital intensity increases by 1.5% vs 2025

On a full-year basis relative to 2025, this implies a c.22% decline in Trading Profit.

The Group has two covenants; net debt / EBITDA (under 3.25x) and an interest cover requirement of at least 4.0x. In this downside scenario, the forecasts show that the Group's maximum net debt / EBITDA (pre-IFRS 16 in-line with the covenant calculation) does not exceed 1.9x, compared to a leverage covenant of 3.25x, and the minimum interest cover reached is 17x compared to a covenant minimum of 4.0x.

The forecasts, including the severe but plausible downside scenario, show that the Group will be able to operate within its current committed debt facilities and continue to comply with the Group's debt covenants. On the basis of the exercise described above and the Group's available committed debt facilities, the Directors consider that the Group and the Company have adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the period at least to 30 June 2027. Accordingly, they continue to adopt the going concern basis in preparing the financial statements.

1.3 Presentational currency

The financial statements are presented in millions of pounds sterling, which is the presentational currency of the Group and the company and rounded to one decimal place. Foreign operations are included in accordance with the policies set out in Note 15.

1.4 Disclosure of "separately reported items"

The Group separately discloses certain items on the face of the income statement using a columnar presentation, as the Directors consider that this assists in understanding the trading performance of the business and in making projections of future results.

Such items may include significant items which occur infrequently, such as major restructuring activity, and those that are not

closely related to trading activity, such as amortisation charges relating to acquired intangible assets, costs associated with M&A

activity, profits or losses arising on the disposal of operations, and the taxation effect of such items.

1.5 New and revised IFRS

None of the new standards, amendments or interpretations that became effective in the period had a material impact on the Group, and none of the standards which have been issued but are not yet effective are expected to have a material impact on the Group.

2 Segment information

Operating segments

The Group's operating segments are determined taking into consideration how the Group's components are reported to the Group's Chief Executive Officer, who make the key operating decisions and are responsible for allocating resources and assessing performance of the component. Taking into account the Group's management and internal reporting structure, the operating segments are Steel Flow Control, Steel Advanced Refractories, Steel Sensors & Probes and Foundry division. The principal activities of each of these segments are described in the Operational Review.

Steel Flow Control, Steel Advanced Refractories and Steel Sensors & Probes operating segments are aggregated into the Steel reportable segment. In determining that aggregation is appropriate, judgement is applied which takes into account the economic characteristics of these operating segments which include a similar nature of products, customers, production processes and margins.

* Adjusted EBITDA is defined in note 15.13

3 Separately reported items

Cost reduction programme expenses

In November 2023 the Group initiated an efficiency programme with the aim of realising recurring cash cost savings. The programme covers all of the Group's activities worldwide and focuses on operational improvement, lean initiatives, automation and digitalisation as well as further optimisation of the manufacturing footprint.

Cost reduction programme expenses are excluded from adjusted performance and shown as separately reported items outside of Trading Profit (adjusted operating profit), allowing for a clear measure of the Group's operating performance.

During 2025, cost reduction programme expenses reported as separately reported items were £18.9m (2024: £14.6m). The charges reflect redundancy costs of £10.2m (2024: £10.8m), other closure & professional expenses of £4.8m (2024: £2.2m), and non-cash asset impairments of £3.9m (2024: £1.6m). The net tax credit attributable to these cost reduction programme expenses was £4.7m (2024: £2.6m).

Acquisition and integration expenses of £7.0m (2024: £nil) have been drawn out as a separately reported item. As these expenses are not related to current trading, separate disclosure will assist users in better understanding financial performance.

4 Net finance costs