AZ Electronic back in black but challenges remain

AZ Electronic Materials, which produces speciality chemical materials to technological manufacturers, saw a rise in revenues, EBITDA and and returned to the black with profits of 125m dollars, despite a challenging economic environment.

Revenues grew from $682.1 to $791.8m, while a loss of $90.6m in 2010 turned to a profit of $125.6m in 2011. EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) leapt 16% to $261m (2010: $225.6m), however the EBITDA margin lost 0.1 percentage points to 33.0%.

Earnings per share rose from 26.9 cents to 35.2 cents.

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In a statement the firm said: "We remain mindful of the uncertain macroeconomic environment which continues to impact consumer markets and most of our customers. We therefore expect the more challenging trading conditions that we experienced towards the end of 2011 to continue into the first half of 2012.

"At this time, industry analysts are forecasting that the current weakness in our markets will be corrected during the second half of 2012, with good growth expected in both wafer starts and flat panel area, giving us confidence that we can make further progress in the current year. We therefore remain committed to investing in our business and technologies, developing leadership positions and growth in line with our long-term guidance."

The firm paid a final dividend of 8.5 cents per share, making a total dividend payment of 12.3 cents per share.

The share price fell 3.82% to 299.70p by 09:30.

NR