Trading Update: Unchanged expectations for full year

Renewi plc (LSE: RWI), the leading international waste-to-product company, announces its trading update for the six months ended 30 September 2022, ahead of the publication of its interim results on 10 November 2022.

Renewi has traded well in the first half, with EBIT expected to be ahead of the prior year on flat revenues. Recyclate prices have remained above historic averages; although paper, plastic and metal prices have reduced during the second quarter as anticipated.

We have experienced lower volumes in some segments of our customer base in our Commercial divisions, like construction and green waste, which we anticipate to continue during the second half. Volumes across our other divisions have remained stable.

With inflation increasing to low double digits in the main countries we operate in, for a significant part driven by energy prices, we continue to focus on cost control and passing on price increases to customers

The acquisition of Paro, an Amsterdam based commercial waste and recycling business announced in May 2022, completed on 1 August 2022 as expected and integration activities are underway.

We expect net debt at 30 September 2022 to be around €390m (€303m March 2022), reflecting the €67m acquisition of Paro and ongoing innovation pipeline investments during the period. Our leverage ratio (including the pro forma impact of Paro) is expected to be under 1.8x net debt to EBITDA (1.4x March 2022) at the period end.

Whilst the Group expects to deliver a strong performance for the first half, we are mindful of the continuing inflationary cost pressures, including energy, across the business and a challenging macroeconomic environment in the second half. Accordingly, our expectations for the full year remain unchanged. We remain confident of the medium- and long-term prospects as we see continued development of the circular economy and evolution of the market for low carbon secondary materials.