Vesuvius shares fell 4.2% to 329.8p in late afternoon trading on Thursday after the group caveated its relatively strong results with a warning that its market environment looked set to deteriorate over the coming months.
However, the metal flow engineering firm confirmed it expected its FY results to top the higher end of market expectations, as a result of its business model and optimistic HY1 figures.
Vesuvius reported a revenue climb of 26% to £1 billion from £808.1 million the last year, along with a 74% growth in adjusted EBITDA to £127.4 million from £73.3 million.
The group noted an operating profit surge of 79% to £122.3 million compared to £68.5 million, and a pre-tax profit increase of 78% to £116.7 million against £65.5 million the year before.
“Despite difficult market conditions, we achieved a record level of trading profit and profitability in the first half of 2022 thanks to the benefits of the restructuring of our manufacturing footprint over the past years and our continued investment in Research and Development,” said Vesuvius CEO Patrick André.
“These results confirm the long-term profitability potential of our activity under normal market conditions and the importance of our technology driven business model.”
“In the coming months, we expect a further deterioration of our market environment. Vesuvius is, however, well prepared to confront this temporary slowdown thanks to our lean, entrepreneurial and decentralised organisation. This, together with the positive results of the first half, make us confident that full year Group trading profit (EBITA) will be towards the top end of the range of current analysts’ expectations.”
The engineering company mentioned an 89% EPS rise to 30p from 15.9p year-on-year, alongside a dividend uptick of 5% to 6.5p compared to 6.2p in the previous year.