Accsys Technologies PLC on Friday said full-year earnings were likely to be at the lower end of expectations as lower production hit sales.
Separately, Accsys also said it now had all commercial agreements in place to start construction in its Accoya US joint venture with Eastman Chemical Co.
The London-headquartered wood building products manufacturer said trading had been strong in the 10 months to January 31. Revenue was up 10% year-on-year to €92.3 million, with Accoya wood revenue up 12% to €79.9 million.
However, sales volumes for Accoya wood were down 2% for the period to 46,817 cubic metres, due to temporary downtime at its Arnhem plant as a new fourth reactor was installed and maintenance work was carried out.
The lost sales cannot be recovered during the financial year ending March 31, it said, which will likely bring earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation for the year to the lower end of market consensus.
Production now has returned to full capacity, Accsys said.
Average sales prices further increased from January, which help offset higher costs from raw materials.
Turning to its joint venture, the company said that production is due to start. The partners made the final investment decision to proceed with the venture, and secured bank loans of $80 milllion.
Construction will start ‘shortly’ for the production plant in Tennessee for the company’s Accoya product, with a capacity of 43,000 cubic metres per annum. Accsys holds 60% interest, and Eastman 40%.
Shares in Accsys were up 1.2% to 146.00 pence each in London on Friday.
‘Our Accoya USA JV will allow Accsys to further address the strong and growing demand in the US market, which we believe is the largest addressable market for Accoya,’ said Chief Executive Officer Rob Harris.
‘We are excited to demonstrate the ability to replicate our facilities from Arnhem, showing how Accsys’ production footprint can scale globally as we move towards our goal of increasing production capacity to 200,000 cubic metres a year by 2025.’
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