Vesuvius sees slowdown carry over into first quarter
Engineered ceramics company Vesuvius saw the slowdown in growth recorded at the tail end of 2018 extend into the first quarter of 2019.
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However, on Wednesday Vesuvius told investors that sales were in-line with the first quarter of 2018, despite the subdued market backdrop and increased regulatory restrictions.
During the quarter, steel production decreased 0.8% year-on-year in all its markets, excluding China, and by 4.5% when including the Asian superpower.
Vesuvius saw continued strength in the US, where steel production grew 6.8%, but recorded some weakness in Europe where there was a decline of 2.0%.
In its foundry operations, Vesuvius saw a "mixed" market environment, with weakness evident in Europe, China and India.
The FTSE 250 constituent also revealed that cash generation throughout the perilous had "remained strong", with net debt increasing "slightly" since December, principally due to its £33.1m acquisition of CCPI.
Exchange rates created a headwind of around £200,000 during the quarter, but, all things being equal, if rates were to persist for the remainder of the year, Vesuvius was expecting the rates to negatively impact its 2019 trading profits by just 2.1%.
Looking forward, Vesuvius expected to continue making good progress with its self-help and restructuring programmes and as a result, the group anticipates full-year EBITDA to be in-line with expectations.
As of 0840 BST, Vesuvius shares had slumped 5.19% to 523.50p.