Interbulk shares fall after profit warning

Shares in Interbulk, the East Kilbride-based chemicals transportation firm, fell this morning after it warned its profits would fall short of City forecasts.

The group, which recently appointed Loek Kullberg as its new chief executive, replacing outgoing boss Koert van Wissen, said its dry chemicals business has been hit by weak conditions in Europe, where trading is taking longer to recover than had been expected.

As a result, Interbulk said its operating profits for the year to 30 September would be below market expectations, sending its shares down 0.75p, or 10.2 per cent, to 6.62p.

Van Wissen said: “While the fourth quarter was the best in the year, trading continues to be less resilient in the dry bulk division with specific plant situations within the polymer market which are difficult to mitigate in the short term.

“While we will continue to focus on operational costs, chemical production output is expected to improve in 2014 and our global network is well positioned to capture this.”