Victrex plc

Ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the VITREX QC and Train Management Statement. At this time, all participants are in listen-only mode. Later, we will conduct a question-and-answer session through the phone lines and instructions will follow at that time. I would like to remind all participants that this call is being recorded. I will now hand over to the Chair of VITREX, PLC, Vivian Cox, to open the presentation.

Thank you.

And good morning, everyone, and welcome to the Bittrex Q3 Trading Update Call. So I'm Vivian Cox, the Chair of Bittrex, and I have with me Jakob Sigurdsson, Chief Executive, Ian Melling, our CFO, and Andrew Hanson, our Director of Investor Relations. Before we turn to the business of the Q3 Trading Update, we announce today the retirement of Jakob as Chief Executive. and the appointment of James Rath as his replacement. I would like to briefly cover that before handing over to Jacob and Ian for the main part of this call. So James will succeed Jacob as CEO in due course. I've not yet agreed a definitive start date with his current chairman, and we will let you know through a separate announcement once that is finalised. Jacob will step down as Chief Executive once James joins the board, ensuring an orderly transition. Yakov remains fully committed to the business and we're grateful to him and thank him for his contribution to Victrix over the past eight years. We are now a more differentiated business with a culture of innovation, stronger foundations and with well-invested assets in our UK manufacturing plants, in our Leeds Medical Centre and in China after a period of investment. With this platform in place, We are well served to improve profitability and outcomes in the short and medium term. We wish Jacob well in his eventual retirement, and I personally want to thank him for the support he has shown me as I have taken on the role of chair. Turning to our new CEO, we are delighted to announce the appointment of James Ralph. James is currently the chief executive of the FTSE listed company AB Dynamics, which provides automated testing, simulation and verification systems for the transportation sector. He has more than 30 years' experience in international companies serving end markets, which are close peer lines to Victrex's markets, including transportation, aerospace and defence. In his time at AD Dynamics, he saw significant increases in revenue and operating profits, through both organic and inorganic growth initiatives, and that led to a significant increase in market categorisation. In summary, he has helped to deliver attractive top and bottom line growth, and consequently, our board believes this appointment is a strong fit with Vitrex, and will serve us well, and we look forward to welcoming James in due course. I will now hand back to Jakob to cover the main part of our presentation, the Q3 trading update. Jakob.