High-performance polymer-maker Victrex (VCT) delivered a downbeat assessment of the outlook for the current financial year last week citing weakness in demand in several end-markets.

The update caused the shares to fall almost 15% to a new multi-year low of £11.52 before clawing their way back gradually to the £13.40 level.

In December, the firm warned it was seeing a slow start to the year, with volumes even lower than the seasonal norm, and last week it reported a 22% drop in quarterly revenue which it blamed on order phasing and destocking in some markets and a ‘prolonged downturn’ in others including electronics, energy and industrial.

Victrex shares enjoyed a moment in the sun in 2021 thanks to firm end-markets and investor interest in the sector, but aside from that they have been on a downward slope ever since peaking in 2018 and last week’s sell-off took them close to decade lows.

The firm did say it had seen an improvement in its monthly run-rate since the start of 2024, with January trading ‘slightly ahead of the prior year’, but it also said it was ‘mindful of the limited visibility of an uptick in several markets’ and first-half sales and earnings would be down on last year.

The chief executive admitted a continuation of the current macro-economic conditions ‘makes achieving a profit growth outcome for the year more challenging and requires a further step up in run rates for the remainder of FY 2024’.

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