Irish Independent

The former One51 won’t have Irish stock listing

- John Mulligan

IRISH plastics group IPL – formerly One51 – is continuing to advance plans for a €600m stock market debut, but is now focused on a single listing in Toronto.

It has already hired three Canadian banks to handle the initial public offering (IPO).

Releasing full-year results yesterday, IPL Plastics said that its group revenue rose 36.2pc to €474.4m last year, while its profit was 9.3pc higher at €17.6m.

Its earnings before interest, tax, depreciati­on and amortisati­on (EBITDA), jumped 46pc to €70.9m.

The group makes plastics for sectors such as car-makers, pharma, constructi­on and food companies. It employs 1,900 people across 14 production facilities in North America, the UK, China and Ireland.

It said that the increased revenue and earnings were primarily the result of organic growth, a full-year contributi­on from US-based Encore Industries, which it bought for $35m in 2016, as well as a partial contributi­on from US-based Macro Plastics, which was bought in June last year for $150m.

Last month, IPL completed a corporate reorganisa­tion that saw Canadian investment giant Caisse de depot et placement de Quebec (CDPQ), and Fonds de Solidarite des Travailleu­rs du Québec, swap their combined 33pc holding in IPL Inc for a total 22pc additional holding in One51.

The two investment entities will own a combined 41.5pc stake in IPL Plastics prior to an IPO, which is likely to take place later this year. Last year, billionair­e businessma­n Dermot Desmond sold his 23pc stake in One51 to CDPQ .

“The group is now operating from 14 manufactur­ing plants across three continents with a clear long term strategy,” said IPL Plastics chief executive Alan Walsh.

“We continue to experience significan­t organic growth opportunit­ies across our end markets, particular­ly in North America,” he said.

Mr Walsh added: “We have also made progress towards a possible IPO and Listing on the Toronto TSX later this year.”

However, IPL Plastics noted in its results that it’s “cognisant of elevated levels of global risk factors”, including the outlook for the UK economy as it prepares for Brexit, as well as stock market, currency and interest rate volatility.

It noted that its performanc­e in the second half of 2017 was adversely impacted by increased resin prices and transporta­tion costs, combined with the decline in both the value of the Canadian and US currencies.

It warned that those trends have continued into 2018. It also took a hit in the third quarter of 2017 from hurricanes that battered the United States. The 2017 US hurricane season was the most expensive in the country’s history.

“The group’s overall 2018 results should start to see the full-year earnings impact of some of the capital expenditur­e programmes commission­ed in the latter half of 2017, coupled with a full year’s contributi­on from Macro,” it added.

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