Victrex Shares Surge as Polymer Group Lifts Profit Guidance on Aviation, Electronics Demand

Victrex raises FY2026 profit forecast to £45-47M on strong aerospace, electronics demand; shares jump 15% in London.

Shares of the British high-performance polymer maker jumped as much as 15% in London trading after the company raised its full-year profit forecast, powered by stronger-than-expected demand from the aerospace and electronics sectors in the final quarter of its fiscal year.

Victrex now expects underlying pre-tax profit of between £45 million and £47 million for the year ending 30 September 2026, up from its previous guidance of £42 million to £44 million. The upgrade reflects a sharp pickup in volumes across the Asia-Pacific region, where the company also saw robust growth from value-added resellers, alongside a stabilisation in its medical division.

The stock was changing hands at 10.02 GBP at the time of the announcement, putting it within roughly 1.6% of its 52-week high of 10.18 GBP. The rally extends a recovery that has already seen the shares climb more than 20% since a disclosure three weeks ago that major shareholder Schroders had crossed a reporting threshold. Year-to-date, the equity has now gained around 50%.

Cost-Cutting Programme Complete

The brighter outlook comes as the company wraps up an internal restructuring effort that has seen it trim 10% of its workforce. Management said the redundancy programme is now complete, and the measures are expected to deliver annual cost savings of at least £10 million from fiscal 2027 onwards.

Those efficiency gains are central to the group's efforts to rebuild profitability after a difficult first half, when underlying pre-tax profit fell 18% to £19 million, weighed down by hefty impairments on a facility in Panjin, China. The contrast with the second half's momentum underscores the scale of the turnaround now underway.

Portfolio Slimming and New Finance Chief

Victrex has also moved to sharpen its focus on core operations. The sale of its Kleiss Gears subsidiary to US-based Heico was completed on 7 August, a disposal that triggered an exceptional loss of around £3 million but removes a non-core business from the portfolio.

On the leadership front, Chris Gilbert took over as interim chief financial officer on 1 September. Gilbert, whose previous roles include stints at Elementis and Deloitte, steps into the finance function at a pivotal moment for the company's strategic repositioning.

Investors will be looking for more detail on the longer-term plan when the group hosts a capital markets event on 24 September. Given the strength of today's numbers, expectations for that presentation have ratcheted up considerably.