Not all companies have fallen during the pandemic period as witnessed by UK-headquartered polymers company Synthomer which said its annual profit for 2021 more than doubled after sales of latex used for gloves skyrocketed during the pandemic. However, it cautioned that the easing of the Covid-19 pandemic has subdued demand for nitrile latex for medical gloves.
Pretax profit rose to £420 million in the year to the end of December from £160 million a year earlier at constant currency as revenue increased 47% to £2.33 billion. Statutory pretax profit jumped to £283.9 million from £20.3 million.
It attributed last year’s “exceptional performance” to a positive contribution from Omnova, strong organic growth and peak margins in the nitrile-butadiene rubber (NBR) business, which supplies nitrile latex for medical gloves.
Performance was driven by high demand at Synthomer’s performance elastomers business where revenue rose to £321 million from £143 million. The division produces nitrile latex used in protective gloves that were in high demand during the Covid-19 crisis.
Synthomer said demand for nitrile latex was subdued so far in 2022 because of high inventory levels among customers but that growth should return to pre-pandemic levels in the second half.
Its other divisions have seen an “encouraging” start to 2022 and the company said it is on track to complete the acquisition of Eastman’s Adhesives Resins business in the first quarter.
CEO Michael Willome said: “This has been an extraordinary year of outperformance for Synthomer. All areas of the business have had an excellent year, led by performance elastomers and unprecedented Nitrile latex demand due to the pandemic. With the market returning to more normalised growth conditions, the group’s prospects remain very attractive and we look forward to making progress in the year ahead.”