6 August 2025

Half Year Results for the six months ended 30 June 2025

H1 results broadly in line with expectations, despite tough market conditions

Vesuvius plc, a global leader in molten metal flow engineering and technology, announces its unaudited results for the six months ended 30 June 2025.

 

Financial summary		H1 2025 (£m)	H1 2024 (£m)	Underlying change % (1)	Year-on-year change %
Headline (non-statutory)
Revenue		907.5	936.5	(0.4%)	(3.1%)
Trading Profit (2) (adjusted EBITA)		77.0	97.2	(16.1%)	(20.7%)
Return on Sales (RoS) (2)		8.5%	10.4%	(160bps)	(190bps)
Headline basic EPS (2) (pence)		17.1	21.8	(16.4%)	(21.6%)
Free cash-flow (2)		(12.6)	17.8	NA	NM
Net Debt / EBITDA (2)		2.0x	1.2x	NA	+0.8x
Statutory
Operating Profit		65.5	84.1	(16.8%)	(22.1%)
Profit Before Tax		56.0	76.7	(21.4%)	(27.0%)
Statutory basic EPS (pence)		12.5	18.1	(24.4%)	(30.9%)
Cash generated from operations		54.9	94.0	NA	(41.6%)
Dividend (pence per share)		7.1	7.1	NA	-

⁽¹⁾ Underlying basis is at constant currency and excludes separately reported items and the impact of acquisitions and disposals.

⁽²⁾ For definitions of non-GAAP measures, refer to Note 16 in the Condensed Group Financial Statements.

NB. The above table and other tables in this results statement contains amounts and percentages derived from source data which was then rounded. The margins and percentage change figures are based on source data, not the rounded figures.

 

Highlights

·     Challenging first half with market share gains and strong cost reduction activities only partially offsetting weak markets and a difficult pricing environment

·     Steel Division

o    Steel production (World ex China, Iran, Russia and Ukraine) declined by 0.3% versus H1 2024 with particular weakness in the EU27+UK, which declined 4.9%. Strong growth in India at 9.2%

o    Overall market share gains in both Flow Control and Advanced Refractories, with the latter regaining positions in EMEA and the US

o    Pricing evolution not fully compensating cost inflation in the first half, especially in EU27+UK and China

o    Temporarily unfavourable product mix evolution as some customers prioritise cost over performance due to the difficult market conditions

o    Lower but resilient Divisional RoS of 9.0%

·     Foundry Division

o    Market activity significantly lower versus H1 2024 but stable compared to H2 2024

o    Strong market share gains in all regions

o    Challenging pricing environment

o    Divisional RoS of 6.9% stable on H2 2024

·     Strong progress in our cost reduction programme

o    £10.1m delivered in H1, ahead of schedule

o    2025 in-year savings estimate increased to c. £20m

·     Good progress in the integration of PiroMet

·     Continued progress in R&D efficiency with Group's New Product Sales ratio up to 19.5% (Flow Control continuing to exceed 20%)

·     Strong Safety performance in H1 with a continuation of our record low level of accidents

·     Interim dividend per share of 7.1p, flat versus the 2024 interim dividend

 

Comment from Patrick André, CEO:

 

"With the exception of India, we have seen a continuation of the general weakness in our end markets which we highlighted in our AGM Trading Update in May. We now anticipate that these challenging market conditions will persist for the balance of the year, particularly in Europe. The pricing environment has also been challenging during the first half, in particular in Europe and China, limiting our ability to fully recover labour cost inflation. We however anticipate progressively improving our pricing performance over the second half of the year to partially recover this cost inflation, albeit with a delayed effect.

As a result, we now expect our performance in the second half of the year to be similar to the first half.

Beyond 2025, we remain confident in the growth potential of our steel and foundry markets, and in our ability to improve our profitability thanks to the success of our cost reduction efforts. Our restructured, modernised and strategically located manufacturing footprint also ensures we are well positioned to benefit from the recovery in end-markets irrespective of which regions benefit. With our capacity investment programme now completed we are equally confident in our ability to increase our free cash flow generation and reduce leverage. This will position us favourably to return cash to shareholders and to seize on attractive M&A opportunities when they arise."

 

Technical note - FX re-translation

FY24	Reported FX rates	Re-translated*
Revenue	£1,820.1m	£1763.5m
Trading profit	£188.0m	£177.0m
Return on sales	10.3%	10.0%

* Hybrid rate using H1 2025 average FX rates for 6 months and 30 June 2025 spot for 6 months

 

Presentation of Half Year 2025 Results

Vesuvius management will make a presentation to analysts and investors on 6 August 2025 at 09:00 UK time at the London Stock Exchange, 10 Paternoster Square, London EC4M 7LS. For those unable to attend, the event will be livestreamed and can be accessed by clicking here. Participants can also join via an audio conference call. Please click here to register.  Once registered, you will be provided with the information needed to join the conference, including dial-in numbers and passcodes.

For further information, please contact:
Vesuvius plc	Patrick André, Chief Executive	+44 (0) 207 822 0000
	Mark Collis, Chief Financial Officer Rachel Stevens, Head of Investor Relations	+44 (0) 207 822 0000 +44 (0) 7387 545 271
MHP Communications	Rachel Farrington/Ollie Hoare	+44 (0) 7817 458 804

 

About Vesuvius plc

Vesuvius is a global leader in molten metal flow engineering and technology principally serving process industries operating in challenging high‑temperature conditions. We develop innovative and customised solutions, often used in extremely demanding industrial environments, which enable our customers to make their manufacturing processes safer, more efficient and more sustainable. These include flow control solutions, advanced refractories and other consumable products and increasingly, related technical services including data capture.

 

We have a worldwide presence. We serve our customers through a network of cost-efficient manufacturing plants located close to their own facilities, and embed our industry experts within their operations, who are all supported by our global technology centres.

 

Our core competitive strengths are our market and technology leadership, strong customer relationships, well established presence in developing markets and our global reach, all of which facilitate the expansion of our addressable markets.

 

Our ultimate goal is to create value for our customers, and to deliver sustainable, profitable growth for our shareholders giving a superior return on their investment whilst providing each of our employees with a safe workplace where they are recognised, developed and properly rewarded.

 

We think beyond today to create solutions that will shape the future. 

 

Forward looking statements

This announcement contains certain forward looking statements which may include reference to one or more of the following: the Group's financial condition, results of operations, cash flows, dividends, financing plans, business strategies, operating efficiencies or synergies, budgets, capital and other expenditures, competitive positions, growth opportunities for existing products, plans and objectives of management and other matters.

 

Statements in this announcement that are not historical facts are hereby identified as "forward looking statements". Such forward looking statements, including, without limitation, those relating to the future business prospects, revenue, working capital, liquidity, capital needs, interest costs and income, in each case relating to Vesuvius, wherever they occur in this announcement, are necessarily based on assumptions reflecting the views of Vesuvius and involve a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward looking statements. Such forward looking statements should, therefore, be considered in light of various important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from estimates or projections contained in the forward looking statements. These include without limitation: economic and business cycles; the terms and conditions of Vesuvius' financing arrangements; foreign currency rate fluctuations; competition in Vesuvius' principal markets; acquisitions or disposals of businesses or assets; and trends in Vesuvius' principal industries.

 

The foregoing list of important factors is not exhaustive. When considering forward looking statements, careful consideration should be given to the foregoing factors and other uncertainties and events, as well as factors described in documents the Company files with the UK regulator from time to time including its annual reports and accounts.

 

You should not place undue reliance on such forward looking statements which speak only as of the date on which they are made. Except as required by the Rules of the UK Listing Authority and the London Stock Exchange and applicable law, Vesuvius undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the forward looking events discussed in this announcement might not occur.

 

Vesuvius plc, 165 Fleet Street, London EC4A 2AE

Registered in England and Wales No. 8217766

LEI: 213800ORZ521W585SY02

www.vesuvius.com

Vesuvius plc

Half Year Results for the six months ended 30 June 2025

Results broadly in line with expectations, despite tough market conditions

 

£m	H1 2025 Reported	acquisition	H1 2025 Underlying	H1 2024 Reported	Currency	H1 2024 Underlying	% Change H1 '25 vs. H1 '24
							Underlying	Reported
Revenue	907.5	(6.3)	901.2	936.5	(31.4)	905.1	(0.4%)	(3.1%)
Trading Profit	77.0	(0.3)	76.7	97.2	(5.8)	91.4	(16.1%)	(20.7%)
Return on Sales	8.5%		8.5%	10.4%		10.1%	(160bps)	(190bps)

 

End markets remained weak

As anticipated, Steel markets remained weak in H1. Steel production in the world excluding China, Iran, Russia and Ukraine, declined by 0.3% in H1 2025 compared with the prior period.

Steel production varied by region. India continues to grow strongly, up 9.2% on the comparative half-year period. South-East Asia also showed consistent growth in the half-year period, up 2.3% vs. prior year. North America contracted by 0.6%, with the US growing and Mexico and Canada declining, while South America declined 0.4% vs H1 2024.  EMEA contracted by 3.0% (excluding Iran, Russia and Ukraine), principally due to the EU27+UK (-4.9%) while EEMEA excluding Russia, Iran and Ukraine contracted 0.2% in H1 vs the prior H1 period. (Source: World Steel Association, to June 2025). Chinese steel exports remained at a high level, similar to that seen in H2 2024 and up 5.3 million tonnes (+11.2%) versus H1 2024.

 

Foundry end markets remained challenging during the first half, down c. 8% versus H1 2024, although they were stable versus H2 2024.  The most negatively impacted regions were EU+UK and the Americas, both North and South. 

 

Group trading performance

In this weak market environment, the Group generated revenue of £907.5m, a decrease of 0.4% on an underlying basis compared to H1 2024 and a decline of 3.1% on a reported basis, reflecting the significant FX headwind in the period and a small contribution from PiroMet. Overall, we saw volume decline equivalent to £1.8m and pricing decline of £2.1m.

 

Market share gains

Within the Steel Division, both Flow Control and Advanced Refractories gained market share overall. Advanced Refractories continued to perform well in Asia but also started to regain market share in the United States and in EMEA. Flow Control gained market share in EMEA, China, South-East Asia and Brazil but progressed slightly less than the market in North America due to the closure of some important Mexican customers where we had very high market shares. Flow Control also progressed less than the market in India as a significant part of H1 steel production growth came from induction furnaces, a market where we are not present. In Foundry, we gained market share in most regions.

 

Mix impact

We have seen an adverse impact from H1 product mix of £13.1m, as some Steel and Foundry customers have adopted lower quality products, resulting in a lower average gross margin. This is predominantly a EU27+UK issue, which accounts for over half of the mix impact and where certain customers are prioritising cost over value in response to their own competitive environment.

 

Price

The challenging trading environment has made the recovery of input cost increases, particularly labour inflation, more challenging than usual, notably in the EU27+UK where customers are experiencing particular difficulties, and in China where the market is also contracting.

 

Accordingly, in H1, while pricing itself has been broadly flat for the Group as a whole, there has been a net negative impact on trading profit and margins relating to rising input costs of £11.7m.

 

Cost savings programme fully on track

The programme to deliver at least £45m annual cost savings in-year FY28, continues at pace, and is now expected to deliver £55m by 2028. We delivered £10.1m in the period and we are now on track to deliver a total of c. £20m in 2025. The projects contributing to the savings in the period include the closure of our UK Tamworth site, transfer of production to Turkey, manufacturing automation and the reorganisation of our commercial and administrative functions in our North American Steel business.

 

First half results broadly as expected

As a result, our trading profit (adjusted EBITA) in H1 2025 of £77m is broadly in line with our expectations. This trading profit shows a reduction of 16.1% on an underlying basis compared to H1 2024 and a reduction of 20.7% on a reported basis. The Group delivered a Return on Sales of 8.5%, down 160bps on an underlying basis, reflecting declines in both the Steel and Foundry divisions where RoS fell 180bps and 110bps respectively.

 

Continued improvement in our health and safety performance

The health and safety of our employees and contractors remains our first priority and we have an overall objective of zero accidents. In the half-year, we achieved a Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate (LTIFR) per million hours worked of 0.55, similar to 0.52 in 2024, which was a significant reduction versus our historic performance.

 

Efficient R&D drives technological differentiation and value to customers

Our focused and efficient R&D is key to maintaining technological differentiation. This is critical to our value-add proposition to customers and to growing market share and margin. We launched 16 new products in the period and delivered a new product sales ratio (defined as the percentage of sales derived from products launched in the previous 5 years) of 19.5%. This is a further improvement compared to 19.1% delivered in FY 2024 and has been driven by both Flow Control and Foundry, with Flow Control continuing to derive over 20% of its sales from new products.

 

In addition, the interest of our customer base in our robotics offering is continuing, with a strong pipeline of opportunities. These installations add significant value to customers by improving the quality of their steel output, the efficiency of their operations, and the safety of their employees, while securing ongoing consumable refractory sales for our business. Our installed base is enhanced by the integration of PiroMet, which brings highly complementary expertise in advanced refractories robotics and an installed base of 9 EAF robots worldwide, expanding our own base of 42 Flow Control robots and 18 Advanced Refractories robots.

 

Capital investment projects to support growth concluded

Capex in 2025 is now trending back to a sustaining run-rate, having concluded the growth capex programme which was initiated in 2021. Capex, excluding leases, in FY25 is now expected to be £75-80m, reduced from our initial guidance of £80-85m, reflecting current trading conditions, and should reduce to c. £70m in 2026 and beyond. This capex includes investment to maintain our facilities to a high-quality level, IT infrastructure, customer installations and investment supporting our sustainability targets.

 

Costs of restructuring as planned

We incurred costs of £4.3million in H1 relating to our cost-saving programme. These are separately reported items, and the majority relate to redundancy costs of £2.4m, with the remainder being other costs including site-closure costs. The total one-off P&L costs relating to the cost-saving programme in 2025 are expected to be c. £15m reflecting the further cost reductions to be delivered in EMEA in the second half.

 

Cashflow

Trade working capital increased by £48.1m versus 31 December 2024, representing 23.5% sales on a 12-month basis. This is an increase of +0.6% versus the 31 December 2024 level, largely reflecting usual seasonality and the impact of PiroMet. Compared to 30 June 2024, working capital intensity was +0.3% higher, reflecting the temporary impact of safety inventories built to maintain product availability to customers while we transfer production between plants following restructuring decisions in Europe.

 

The Group generated adjusted operating cashflow of £25.8m, representing cash conversion of 33% (H1 2024: 49%). Net capital expenditure in the period has started to reduce as planned, at £36.4m (H1 2024: £49.9m). Free cash flow was an outflow of £12.6m (H1 2024:  inflow of £17.8m) reflecting lower EBITDA and the temporary trade working capital outflow noted above.

 

The second share buyback programme for £50m commenced in November 2024 and was completed on 2 April 2025, around four-and-a-half months from initiation with 12.2 million shares purchased. This was the second share buyback delivered since our November 2023 Capital Markets Event. In aggregate, we have bought back £100m worth of shares as part of our strategy to return cash to shareholders.

At 30 June 2025, net debt stood at £452.4m (31 December 2024: £329.2m), reflecting the negative free cashflow from lower EBITDA, the cash outflow from the share buy-back (£34.8m) and acquisition of PiroMet (£18.6m), and the H1 payment of the 2024 full year dividend (£40.4m). Net debt / EBITDA at 30 June 2025 stood at 2.0x (31 December 2024: 1.3x) reflecting the increased net debt as described above combined with lower EBITDA. This increase in gearing since 31 December 2024 is partially attributable to FX translation; on a constant currency basis, the net debt / EBITDA ratio at 31 December 2024 would have been 1.4x. In addition, it reflects the impact of the full cash consideration for PiroMet while only part of a year of profit contribution.

 

Response to the trading environment

We remain committed to executing our cost optimisation strategy to adapt to the trading environment.

 

We have now mostly completed our programme to reposition the majority of our manufacturing capacity outside of the EU and U.K., towards the faster growing Asian, EEMEA and North American regions. We are however maintaining enough capacity in Europe to benefit from a potential rebound in this region should it occur. Those capacities maintained in Europe benefit from an ambitious automation program, supporting their long-term competitiveness.

 

In parallel, we continue to deliver structural reductions in the cost of our overhead functions, through increased digitalisation and reduced exposure to high-cost countries. In the short-term, we are maintaining a very tight control on all discretionary expenses.

 

Regarding pricing, we initiated a process of price rises in the second quarter to progressively recover cost inflation. We have seen early successes and expect a further improvement in the second half of the year.

 

With our capacity expansion program now completed, our capital expenditure will stabilise to a lower level. We also remain focused on optimising our working capital. We are thus confident in our ability to increase our free cash flow generation and reduce leverage going forward.

 

Interim Dividend

Vesuvius has a progressive dividend policy.  As a minimum we will maintain our dividend per share year-on-year and increase it, through the cycle, in line with earnings per share growth. In addition, where cash is not required for additional investment in the business and while maintaining a strong and prudent balance sheet, we will return cash to shareholders via other means, such as share buybacks.

 

The Board has declared an interim dividend of 7.1 pence per share for H1 2025, similar to the interim dividend for 2024. The interim dividend will be paid on 19 September 2025 to shareholders on the register at the close of business on 15 August 2025. The ex-dividend date will be 14 August 2025.  Any shareholder wishing to participate in the Vesuvius Dividend Reinvestment Plan (DRIP) needs to have submitted their election to do so by 1 September 2025. The DRIP is provided by Equiniti Financial Services Limited and enables the Company's shareholders to elect to have their cash dividend payments used to purchase the Company's shares. More information can be found at www.shareview.co.uk/info/drip.

 

Current trading and outlook

With the exception of India, we have seen a continuation of the general weakness in our end markets which we highlighted in our AGM Trading Update in May. We now anticipate that these challenging market conditions will persist for the balance of the year, particularly in Europe. The pricing environment has also been challenging during the first half, in particular in Europe and China, limiting our ability to fully recover labour cost inflation. We however anticipate progressively improving our pricing performance over the second half of the year to partially recover this cost inflation, albeit with a delayed effect.

As a result, we now expect our performance in the second half of the year to be similar to the first half.

Beyond 2025, we remain confident in the growth potential of our steel and foundry markets, and in our ability to improve our profitability thanks to the success of our cost reduction efforts. Our restructured, modernised and strategically located manufacturing footprint also ensures we are well positioned to benefit from the recovery in end-markets irrespective of which regions benefit. With our capacity investment programme now completed we are equally confident in our ability to increase our free cash flow generation and reduce leverage. This will position us favourably to return cash to shareholders and to seize on attractive M&A opportunities when they arise.

 

Operating and Financial Review

Operating review

Vesuvius comprises two Divisions, Steel and Foundry. The Steel Division operates as three business units, Flow Control, Advanced Refractories and Sensors & Probes. Changes described are versus H1 2024 on an underlying basis, excluding the impact of FX and the acquisition of PiroMet (on 28 February 2025), unless otherwise noted. There were no other acquisitions or disposals in 2024 or H1 2025.

 

See Note 16.1 to the Condensed Group Financial Statements for the definition of headline performance and Note 16.2 to the Condensed Group Financial Statements for the definition of underlying performance.

 

Steel Division

 

Steel Division			H1 2025 (£m)	H1 2024 (£m)	Change % underlying	Change % reported
Flow Control Revenue			378.1	393.7	(0.5%)	(4.0%)
Advanced Refractories Revenue			273.0	270.3	1.6%	1.0%
Steel Sensors & Probes Revenue			18.8	21.7	(5.8%)	(13.2%)
Total Steel Revenue			670.0	685.7	0.2%	(2.3%)
Steel Trading profit			60.6	76.5	(16.4%)	(20.8%)
Steel Return on Sales			9.0%	11.2%	-180bps	-220bps

 

Steel revenue was flat on an underlying basis, reflecting a slight fall in volumes related to declining markets, offset by a slight gain in market share. Pricing was flat in the period. 

 

Trading profit in Steel fell 16.4% principally reflecting flat pricing and rising labour costs, and adverse mix with some customer switching to lower value, lower performance but also lower margin, products. These effects have been partially offset by strong cost savings. As a result, Return on Sales for the Steel Division decreased 180bps to 9.0%

 

Flow Control

 

Flow Control Revenue		H1 2025 (£m)	H1 2024 (£m)	Change % underlying	Change % reported
Americas		144.9	157.6	(3.2%)	(8.1%)
Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA)		118.0	123.7	(2.9%)	(4.6%)
Asia-Pacific		115.2	112.4	6.0%	2.6%
Total Flow Control Revenue		378.1	393.7	(0.5%)	(4.0%)

 

Flow Control saw a decline in markets and in our volumes in EMEA and the Americas, and growth in Asia in the period, with an overall slight 0.5% reduction in volumes across the regions. Flow Control gained market share in EMEA, in Brazil, in China and in South-East Asia, while our market share slightly declined in North America due to the closure of some customers where we enjoyed very high market share.  Our growth in India has been positive but has somewhat lagged behind market growth during the first half as induction furnace-based steel production (a market into which we do not participate) has outgrown the EAF and Blast furnace-based steel production during the period. Pricing increased modestly.  

 

Advanced Refractories

 

Advanced Refractories Revenue		H1 2025 (£m)	H1 2024 (£m)	Change % underlying	Change % reported
Americas		92.9	98.5	(8.5%)	(5.7%)
Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA)		89.0	83.5	8.0%	6.6%
Asia-Pacific		91.1	88.3	6.7%	3.2%
Total Advanced Refractories Revenue		273.0	270.3	1.6%	1.0%

 

In Advanced Refractories we gained market share overall with volume growth higher than the market in Asia, both in India and China, in EMEA (excluding Iran, Russia and Ukraine), and in the US partially offset by market share decline in Latin America.  As a result, revenue growth was driven by volume increases, while pricing declined very modestly over the period.

 

Sensors & Probes

 

Sensors & Probes Revenue		H1 2025 (£m)	H1 2024 (£m)	Change % underlying	Change % reported
Americas		13.3	15.3	(3.2%)	(13.5%)
Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA)		5.4	6.1	(11.0%)	(12.2%)
Asia-Pacific		0.2	0.2	(20.9%)	(20.5%)
Total Sensors & Probes Revenue		18.8	21.7	(5.8%)	(13.2%)

 

During the first six months of 2025, Sensors & Probes sales recorded double-digit growth in North America, which was more than offset by declining sales in South America. Within EMEA, sales in the EU+UK were flat year-on-year, reflecting weak market demand, while sales in Türkiye, the Middle East, and Africa declined.

 

 

Foundry Division

 

Foundry Division		H1 2025 (£m)	H1 2024 (£m)	Change % underlying	Change % reported
Americas		57.9	63.7	(2.6%)	(9.1%)
Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA)		92.9	101.6	(7.7%)	(8.5%)
Asia-Pacific		86.7	85.5	5.1%	1.4%
Total Foundry Revenue		237.5	250.8	(2.1%)	(5.3%)
Foundry Trading Profit		16.4	20.7	(15.0%)	(20.4%)
Foundry Return on Sales		6.9%	8.2%	-110bps	-130bps

 

Foundry end markets were negative in all major regions with the exception of India, with the greatest impact being in EMEA, followed by North America and persistent weakness also in South America and South-East Asia. The negative market conditions impacted revenue by c. 8%, partially offset by market share gains of c. 6.8%, while headline pricing was modestly negative. As a result, Foundry revenue fell 2.1% as compared with H1 2024. 

 

At the trading profit line, Foundry was also impacted by rising costs not covered by price increases, and a negative product mix. The Division's trading profit fell 15.0% versus H1 2024 and Return on Sales reduced by 110bps to 6.9%.

 

Financial Review

H1 2025 performance overview

Income statement

Group revenue of £907.5m is down 3.1% on a reported basis (H1 2024: £936.5m) and -0.4% on an underlying basis; trading profit fell 20.7% on a reported basis to £77.0m (H1 2024: £97.2m), as set out in the operating review above, and fell 16.1% on an underlying basis.

Operating profit decreased 22.1% on a reported basis to £65.5m (H1 2024: £84.1m), reflecting the changes in trading profit described above, before amortisation of acquired intangible assets of £5.0m (H1 2024: £5.1m), cost-reduction programme expenses of £4.3m (H1 2024: £8.0m) and acquisition related costs of £2.2m. These three items have been treated as separately reported items.

In H1 2025, we spent £17.7m on R&D activities (H1 2024: £19.7m), which represents 1.9% of our revenue (H1 2024: 2.1%).

Headline PBT was £67.5m (H1 2024: £89.8m), a reduction of 24.8% on a reported basis, reflecting the reduction in operating profit and an increase in net finance cost to £10.0m (H1 2024: £8.0m) due to a combination of higher debt, and reduced financial income.

PBT including amortisation of acquired intangibles was 27.0% lower at £56.0m (H1 2024: £76.7m), on a reported basis.

Headline EPS from continuing operations fell 21.6% on a reported basis to 17.1p (H1 2024: 21.8p), reflecting the lower trading profit described above partially offset by a reduction in the non-controlling interest (£6.6m; H1 2024 £7.6m). This was also partially offset by a reduction in our average number of shares in issue from 264.7m (HY 2024) to 248.0m, due to the share buy-back undertaken last year, and the second share buyback commenced in November 2024 and completed in April 2025.

Taxation

 

The Group's effective tax rate is the income tax associated with headline performance of H1 2025, £18.4m, (H1 2024: £24.5m), divided by the headline profit before tax and before the Group's share of post-tax profit of joint ventures. The Group's headline effective tax rate was 27.5% in H1 2025 as previously guided (H1 2024: 27.5%). We expect the Group's effective tax rate to be 27.5% for the full year 2025.

 

The tax debit of £0.1m in separately reported items includes a debit of £2.8m related to the withholding tax related to one-off dividend remittances, offset against a credit of £1.3m relating to the amortisation of intangible assets, and a balancing amount relating to deferred tax, as set out in note 5 to the accounts.  

Cash flow

The Group generated adjusted operating cash flows of £25.8m, a 46.1% decrease versus H1 2024 (£47.9m). This implies a cash conversion rate in H1 2025 of 33% (H1 2024: 49%). H1 2025 cash conversion reflected a reduced cash generated from continuing operations of £54.9m (H1 2024: £94.0m) partially offset by a decrease in net capex of £36.4m (H1 2024: £49.9m). Free cash flow was an outflow of £12.6m in H1 2025 (H1 2024: inflow of £17.8m).

Working capital

Trade working capital, measured as a percentage of sales on a 12-month moving average basis, has trended broadly flat, at 23.5% as at 30 June 2025 (30 June 2024: 23.2%; 31 Dec 2024 22.9%), with the rise versus the level at 31 December 2024 reflecting usual seasonality.

In absolute terms, on a constant currency basis, trade working capital increased by £50.1m in H1 2025 to £441.9m compared to the balance as at 31 December 2024. The increase was due to a rise in inventory (+£30.3m) and debtors (+£48.0m), partially offset by an increase in creditors (+£28.2m). On a reported basis, the increase in trade working capital was £48.1m (H1 2024: £34.2m), including working capital relating to PiroMet of c. £6m.

Capital expenditure

Net cash capital expenditure in H1 2025 was £36.4m (H1 2024: £49.9m).  Including additional fixed assets resulting from capitalised leases and the net repayment of capital expenditure creditors, total capital expenditure additions were £37.9m (H1 2024: £47.9m), of which £28.1m (H1 2024: £39.2m) related to the Steel Division and £9.8m (H1 2024: £8.7m) related to the Foundry Division.

 

Balance sheet

Financial position

At 30 June 2025, Net Debt was £452.4m, (31 December 2024: £329.2m), due to an outflow at the free cash flow line of £12.6m plus dividend payments (£40.4m), share buybacks (£34.8m), consideration in relation to the acquisition of PiroMet (£18.6m) and other factors.

The net debt to EBITDA ratio increased to 2.0x versus 31 December 2024 (1.3x), principally reflecting the increase in net debt and also the fall in the trailing last-12-months EBITDA.

EBITDA to interest was 15.0x (31 December 2024: 18.4x). The Group had committed borrowing facilities of £761.2m as at 30th June 2025 (31 December 2024: £669.6m), of which £238.5m was undrawn (31 December 2024: £202.5m). Liquidity stood at £402.9m on 30 June 2025 (31 December 2024: £389m), defined as undrawn committed debt facilities plus our cash on balance sheet, less cash used as collateral against loans.

The Group's debt facilities have two financial covenants: the ratios of net debt to EBITDA (maximum 3.25x limit) and EBITDA to interest (minimum 4x limit).  Certain adjustments are made to the net debt calculations for bank covenant purposes, the most significant of which is to exclude the impact of IFRS 16.

Return on Invested Capital

In March 2025, the Board decided to re-define ROIC for the purpose of remuneration targets, to exclude the impact of goodwill and intangibles that arose on the acquisition of Foseco in 2008, as the Remuneration Committee believes that this approach removes the distortive effects of that acquisition, and provides a clearer measure of management performance.

Accordingly, ROIC is now defined as trading profit less amortisation of acquired intangibles (excluding Foseco) plus share of post-tax profit of joint ventures and associates for the previous 12 months after tax, divided by the average invested capital. Invested capital is defined as total assets excluding cash and non-interest-bearing liabilities, less the goodwill and intangibles that arose under IFRS3 in respect of the Foseco acquisition in 2008, averaged between the closing balance sheet date and the balance sheet date twelve months prior, at year-to-date foreign exchange rates. In the period, ROIC (excluding the Foseco intangible assets) was 12.0%, down from 14.4% at 31 December 2024, principally reflecting the reduction in rolling 12-month trading profit.

ROIC on the previous methodology was 7.1% (31 December 2024: 8.4%)

Pensions

The Group has a limited number of historical defined benefit plans located mainly in the UK, USA, Germany and Belgium. The main plans in the UK and USA are closed to further benefits accrual. In the funded UK plan, an insurance asset from PIC matches the remaining pension liabilities of the UK Plan, with the result that the Company no longer bears any investment, longevity, interest rate or inflation risks in respect of this UK Plan. The Group's net pension liability on 30 June 2025 was £33.5m (2024 full year: £37.4m).  There is no one driver for the reduction in liability as movements in all plans remained relatively flat.

 

Principal Risks and Uncertainties

The Board exercises oversight of the Group's Principal Risks and reviews the way in which the Group manages those risks.  The Board takes overall responsibility for establishing and maintaining a system of risk management and internal control and for reviewing its effectiveness.

 

The Board has reviewed the Principal Risks and Uncertainties facing the Group and consider that these remain unchanged compared with those published in the Annual Report for the year ended 31 December 2024. 

 

The Principal Risks which could have a material impact on the Group's performance for the remainder of the financial year are as follows:

-      End-market risks

-      Protectionism and globalisation

-      Product quality failure

-      Complex and changing regulatory environment

-      Failure to secure innovation

-      Business interruption

-      People, culture and performance

-      Health and safety

-      Environmental, Social and Governance criteria

 

Further information on these Principal Risks and the way in which the Group manages them is detailed on pages 67-73 of the 2024 Annual Report.  A copy of the 2024 Annual Report is available to view in unedited full text, on the Vesuvius website at www.vesuvius.com and on the National Storage Mechanism at: https://data.fca.org.uk/#/nsm/nationalstoragemechanism

 

There was no material change to the level of risks facing the Group during the period under review.

 

 

Half Year Results for the six months ended 30 June 2025

Directors' responsibility statement

 

The Directors confirm that these condensed interim financial statements have been prepared in accordance with UK adopted International Accounting Standard 34, 'Interim Financial Reporting' and the Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules sourcebook of the United Kingdom's Financial Conduct Authority and that the interim management report includes a fair review of the information required by DTR 4.2.7 and DTR 4.2.8, namely:

1)            an indication of important events that have occurred during the first six months and their impact on the condensed set of financial statements, and a description of the principal risks and uncertainties for the remaining six months of the financial year; and

2)             material related-party transactions in the first six months and any material changes in the related-party transactions described in the last annual report.

The names and functions of the Directors of Vesuvius plc are as follows:

 

Carl-Peter Forster	Chairman
Patrick André	Chief Executive
Mark Collis	Chief Financial Officer
Eva Lindqvist	Independent Non-executive Director and Senior Independent Director
Italia Boninelli	Independent Non-executive Director and Chair of the Remuneration Committee
Robert MacLeod	Independent Non-executive Director and Chair of the Audit Committee
Carla Bailo Dinggui Gao	Independent Non-executive Director Independent Non-executive Director
Friederike Helfer	Non-executive Director

 

On behalf of the Board

 

 

Mark Collis

Chief Financial Officer

5 August 2025

 

 

Independent review report to Vesuvius plc

Report on the condensed consolidated interim financial statements

 

Our conclusion

We have reviewed Vesuvius plc's condensed consolidated interim financial statements (the "interim financial statements") in the Half Year Results of Vesuvius plc for the six months ended 30 June 2025 (the "period").

Based on our review, nothing has come to our attention that causes us to believe that the interim financial statements are not prepared, in all material respects, in accordance with UK adopted International Accounting Standard 34, 'Interim Financial Reporting' and the Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules sourcebook of the United Kingdom's Financial Conduct Authority.

The interim financial statements comprise:

·      the Condensed Group Balance Sheet as at 30 June 2025;

·      the Condensed Group Income Statement and Condensed Group Statement of Comprehensive Income for the period then ended;

·      the Condensed Group Statement of Cash Flows for the period then ended;

·      the Condensed Group Statement of Changes in Equity for the period then ended; and

·      the explanatory notes to the interim financial statements.

The interim financial statements included in the Half Year Results of Vesuvius plc have been prepared in accordance with UK adopted International Accounting Standard 34, 'Interim Financial Reporting' and the Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules sourcebook of the United Kingdom's Financial Conduct Authority.

Basis for conclusion

We conducted our review in accordance with International Standard on Review Engagements (UK) 2410, 'Review of Interim Financial Information Performed by the Independent Auditor of the Entity' issued by the Financial Reporting Council for use in the United Kingdom ("ISRE (UK) 2410"). A review of interim financial information consists of making enquiries, primarily of persons responsible for financial and accounting matters, and applying analytical and other review procedures.

A review is substantially less in scope than an audit conducted in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) and, consequently, does not enable us to obtain assurance that we would become aware of all significant matters that might be identified in an audit. Accordingly, we do not express an audit opinion.

We have read the other information contained in the Half Year Results and considered whether it contains any apparent misstatements or material inconsistencies with the information in the interim financial statements.

Conclusions relating to going concern

Based on our review procedures, which are less extensive than those performed in an audit as described in the Basis for conclusion section of this report, nothing has come to our attention to suggest that the directors have inappropriately adopted the going concern basis of accounting or that the directors have identified material uncertainties relating to going concern that are not appropriately disclosed. This conclusion is based on the review procedures performed in accordance with ISRE (UK) 2410. However, future events or conditions may cause the group to cease to continue as a going concern.

Responsibilities for the interim financial statements and the review

 

Our responsibilities and those of the directors

The Half Year Results, including the interim financial statements, is the responsibility of, and has been approved by the directors. The directors are responsible for preparing the Half Year Results in accordance with the Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules sourcebook of the United Kingdom's Financial Conduct Authority. In preparing the Half Year Results, including the interim financial statements, the directors are responsible for assessing the group's ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the directors either intend to liquidate the group or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

Our responsibility is to express a conclusion on the interim financial statements in the Half Year Results based on our review. Our conclusion, including our Conclusions relating to going concern, is based on procedures that are less extensive than audit procedures, as described in the Basis for conclusion paragraph of this report. This report, including the conclusion, has been prepared for and only for the company for the purpose of complying with the Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules sourcebook of the United Kingdom's Financial Conduct Authority and for no other purpose. We do not, in giving this conclusion, accept or assume responsibility for any other purpose or to any other person to whom this report is shown or into whose hands it may come save where expressly agreed by our prior consent in writing.

 

 

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP

Chartered Accountants

London

5 August 2025