Nuplex forecasts record half year

Resins and paint manufacturer Nuplex says it is on track for record half year earnings and has confirmed it will reinstate interim dividends.

The company last year breached its banking covenant and had to raise $160 million in new capital.

It said last night that its first half result for the 2009/2010 financial year was stronger than previously expected.

Preliminary guidance showed the result would be well above the previous record of $60.6 million in the first half of the 2007/08 financial year.

Managing director John Hirst said it was proving as difficult to forecast the upside of the post-global financial crisis period as it was the downside of it at this time last year.

Trading conditions remained solid through November and December and raw material costs were stable.

Current trends were unlikely to change in the near term, he said.

Nuplex was raising earnings guidance for the current financial year by $10 million to $15 million to a range of $120 million to $135 million.

Last November, the company upgraded its earnings for the year from a previously expected $100 million to a range of $100 million to $110 million, and forecast that its net profit would be between $36 million and $44 million.

The company will release its half year result on Thursday, February 25.