James Cropper plc (LON:CRPR), the Advanced Materials and Paper & Packaging group, has announced its unaudited results for the six months ended 26 September 2026.
Financial highlights
| Group | H1 FY27 | H1 FY26 | Change |
| Revenue | £61.2m | £51.8m | +18.3% |
| Adjusted1 EBITDA | £7.8m | £4.1m | +90.2% |
| Adjusted1 Profit Before Tax | £5.8m | £2.1m | +£3.7m |
| Statutory Profit Before Tax | £5.0m | £2.7m | +£2.3m |
| Basic Earnings Per Share | 39.8p | 21.6p | +18.2p |
| Diluted Earnings Per Share | 38.8p | 21.6p | +17.2p |
| Dividend Per Share | 5.0p | – | +5.0p |
| Net Debt | £2.7m | £10.5m | -£7.8m |
| Net Debt: Adjusted1 EBITDA ratio2 | 0.2x | 1.3x | -1.1x |
| Paper & Packaging | |||
| Revenue | £42.2m | £32.8m | +28.7% |
| Adjusted1 EBITDA | £3.9m | (£0.7m) | +£4.6m |
| Advanced Materials | |||
| Revenue | £19.0m | £19.0m | 0.0% |
| Adjusted1 EBITDA | £5.1m | £5.5m | -£0.4m |
Strategic and operational highlights
- Paper & Packaging:
- Revenue +28.7% ahead of the same period in the prior year with strong growth in added value segments and solid progress in commodity segments, and stable underlying sales in core segments.
- Within added value segments, revenue growth was positively impacted by seasonal factors and also a one-off inventory build by a major customer extending its distribution channels.
- Revenue growth, together with benefits from the operational improvement programme commenced in FY26 and good cost management, resulted in Adjusted EBITDA of £3.9m, an increase of £4.6m on the same period in FY26.
- Advanced Materials:
- Revenue slightly ahead of the Board’s expectations with growth from established markets and customer trials offsetting the expected decline in revenues in Hydrogen Coatings after a strong performance last year.
- Adjusted EBITDA of £5.1m, £0.4m below the same period in the prior year due to product mix and a small currency related gain in the prior year.
- Financial strength and balance sheet resilience:
- Further strengthening of the balance sheet with net debt at the period-end of £2.7m, a reduction of £5.4m since the end of the previous financial period on 28 March 2026 and £7.8m below the equivalent date in the prior period.
- On 1 July the Group refinanced its debt facilities with the introduction of a new invoice discounting facility, enabling a reduction in gross debt of £8.5m during the period and access to increased liquidity.
- Strong trading and further strengthening of the balance sheet during the period have enabled the Board to reinstate a dividend, with an interim dividend of 5.0 pence per share declared.
Current trading and outlook
- Trading momentum since the period end has remained strong and in line with the Board’s expectations.
- The Board expects full-year Group revenue to show mid-single-digit growth over FY26.
- As announced on 20 October 2026, the Board expects full-year Group Adjusted EBITDA to be in the range £10.3-£11.3m, being 10-20% higher than market guidance prior to this date and approximately 15-25% above FY26.
- Following a strong six months, trading in Paper & Packaging during the remainder of FY27 is expected to return to more normal seasonally adjusted levels to deliver high-single-digit full-year revenue growth and a mid-single-digit Adjusted EBITDA margin.
- Advanced Materials revenue and Adjusted EBITDA in H2 FY27 are expected to be similar to H1 FY27.
- FY27 year-end net debt is expected to be above H1 FY27 but remain below the FY26 year-end level reflecting the timing of capital expenditure, spend on the Group-wide ERP upgrade, corporation tax payments and the interim dividend payment in the second half of FY27.
David Stirling, Chief Executive Officer, stated:
“We are delighted to report an excellent set of interim results as we continue to see the benefit of disciplined execution of our strategic plan. Profit recovery in the Paper & Packaging business is running well ahead of plan. In Advanced Materials, strength in established markets has offset lower revenue as expected in Hydrogen Coatings. The refinancing concluded in the period builds on the significant improvements already made to financial and balance sheet health.
‘Our Paper & Packaging business has made excellent progress towards its goal of sustainable profitability, with improved operational efficiency complemented by successful business development activity that has delivered a number of new customer wins over the last 12 months.
“In the longer term, we are targeting underlying double-digit revenue growth in the Advanced Materials business, as we continue to deepen customer relationships and develop opportunities across both established and nascent markets.
“Reflecting our progress and confidence in the Group’s outlook, the Board is pleased to reinstate the dividend, declaring an interim dividend of 5.0 pence per share.
“I thank our employees for their continued efforts and remain confident that the delivery of our strategic plan will create significant long-term value for all stakeholders.”
Notes
- Adjusted figures exclude the impact of IAS 19 in respect of the cost of the Group’s defined benefit pension schemes and exceptional items. Further details on Alternative Performance Measures are set out in notes 4 and 9 of the Interim Results. EBITDA refers to profit before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation. Adjusted EBITDA is EBITDA prior to the impact of IAS 19 and exceptional items.
- The Net Debt to Adjusted EBITDA ratio is net debt at the period-end divided by Adjusted EBITDA for the 12 months ending on the period-end date. Net debt includes bank borrowings and lease liabilities, less cash and cash equivalents.
