MOSCOW (MRC) -- Synthomer plc. has reported that its loss attributable to equity holders of the parent for the six months ended 30 June 2020 was 13.1 million pounds or 3.1 pence per share, compared to net income of 47.4 million pounds or 12.9 pence per share in the prior year, according to Chemweek.
IFRS loss before tax was 4.7 million pounds compared to a profit before tax of 56.6 million pounds in the previous year.
Underlying earnings per share was 10.8 pence per share, down 34.5% from last year, reflecting the lower profits before tax, the higher effective tax rate, and the impact of the pre-emptive acquisition financing 85 million shares rights issue in July 2019 ahead of the acquisition which completed on 1 April 2020.
Group revenue for the period declined to 733.7 million pounds from 762.7 million pounds in the previous year. The decrease reflected the very significant fall in raw material prices in the second-quarter 2020 as a result of the impact of COVID-19, more than offsetting the overall increase in volumes of approximately 2%.
The company now expects full year EBITDA to be broadly in line with current market consensus and accordingly the Board expects to pay a full year 2020 final dividend.
As MRC reported earlier, in January 2020, EU antitrust regulators said they had cleared polymer maker Synthomer Plc’s planned acquisition of US rival Omnova Solutions Inc, subject to conditions. The approval is conditional on Synthomer’s offer to divest its global VP Latex business to address concerns of the European Commission that competition of vinyl pyridine latex would be reduced. The product is used by tyre manufacturers to make safer and more solid tyres. Synthomer announced its plans to buy Omnova for an enterprise value of USD824 million in July, 2019, to strengthen its global position.
Omnova is a US based specialty chemical company which develops, manufactures and markets emulsion polymers, speciality chemicals and decorative products and provides engineered surfaces for various commercial, industrial and residential end uses. On completion of the acquisition of Omnova, Synthomer will strengthen further its position as a major global player in water-based polymer solutions, with best-in-class process technology and a strong R&D platform with global geographic coverage and increased customer proximity.
As MRC wrote before, after the May fall in June, Russia's output of products from polymers rose by 16.9% due to the easing of quarantine restrictions and seasonally stronger demand. However, this figure increased by 1.3% year on year in the first six months of 2020.
MRC