When a trading statement opens with “strong delivery, exciting medium-term targets with compounding cash and earnings growth” you know it’s going to be an easy one to write.

So London-listed industrial threads and footwear components manufacturer Coats Group delivered a stream of (mostly) positives for the year ended 31 December.

It led with revenues up 8% to $1.5 billion on a reported basis and 9% currency neutral (CER) as customer buying patterns normalised versus 2023 when businesses in general were impacted by pandemic-related  destocking.

Apparel and Footwear revenues grew 13% and 10%, respectively.

But Performance Materials failed to perform again, impacted by weakness across all North America end markets while there was also structural softness in North American Yarns, it admitted.

Back to the good: group adjusted EBIT rose 16% reported and by 18% CER to $270 million while the EBIT margin of 18% was ahead of the previously-announced 17% 2024 margin target. And that came despite in-year margin headwinds from that weaker PM division.

Strategic highlights included a continued outperformance against the industry in Apparel and Footwear with further market share gains (+100bps Apparel and +200bps Footwear).

There was also an extended global market leadership in 100% recycled thread products where revenue grew 144% to $405 million, “a further significant acceleration in industry adoption”, its noted.

Meanwhile, that troublesome Performance Materials division has seen its Americas manufacturing footprint “right-sized” in Q4 with the closure of the Toluca site “to align to structural softness in North American Yarns [that will] drive immediate margin improvement”.

As for Coats’ new medium-term targets, these include 5% average organic revenue growth; EBIT margins to grow to 19-21%; an expected generation of $750 million adjusted free cash flow over the next five years; maintaining a strong financial position; managed investment to sustain organic growth; and an increasing opportunity “to enhance value-creation through acquisitions”.
 
It added: “Based on current market conditions and normalised customer buying behaviour, we anticipate another year of financial and strategic progress in 2025, in line with market expectations.
 
“This guidance reflects continued organic growth for Apparel and Footwear, in line with the medium-term growth targets for these divisions. Organic growth in Performance Materials is expected to be modest with no expected recovery in the America’s Yarns. Margins in 2025 should benefit from further growth, improvement in Performance Materials and the final benefits from strategic projects, which will be balanced in part by some targeted reinvestment to drive long term growth initiatives.”