Treatt PLC (Bury St. Edmunds, England) has reported a 31% increase in group revenues totaling £28,309,000 (2008: £21,662,000) for the six months ended March 31, 2009. The company’s first half performance was in line with expectations, with both sales and margins holding up well across the company.
Treatt PLC’s UK operating subsidiary reported a sales growth of almost 19%, with 75% of its order book being US dollar-based. Meanwhile, despite fewer transactions, aroma chemical sales continued to grow with margins benefiting from the weaker pound, even as sales to the Middle East fell back sharply due to economic constraints in the region.
For the second half of 2009, the company expects cash flows to improve, and margins to go down, as the impact of the stronger US dollar levels off. Of this, chairman Edward Dawnay said, “Whilst current economic conditions create uncertainty and necessitate a strong degree of caution, the board believes that the full year results will now exceed its current expectations, although it is too early to quantify the extent to which this may be the case.”
In addition, the company announced that its managing director, Hugo Bovill, will take a six month sabbatical from December 2009 to June 2010.
