Zotefoams – will tomorrow’s Trading Update give its shares, now 458p, some added bounce?

Mark Watson-Mitchell - 04.08.2026

Tomorrow morning, Wednesday, 5^th August, the £229m-capitalised Zotefoams (LON:ZTF) will brief investors with its Interim Trading Update covering the six months to end-June – the statement should be positive enough to see the group’s shares get some added bounce.

The group, which is a world leader in supercritical foams, has seen its shares rise from a low of 330p in late March this year, to over 472p in the last week of July.

They touched 595p in late May two years ago – and market whispers suggest that they could well be heading back up there again within the next year or so.

So, will tomorrow’s Interim Trading Update spark further upward moves from the current 458p?

The Business

With over 100 years of history behind its operations, it rightfully can claim a ‘world leader’ status.

The company was founded by Charles Marshall as an expanded rubber manufacturer known as Onazote Limited in 1921.

It then expanded into polyethylene foams in the 1960s and listed on the LSE in 1995.

Today, Zotefoams is headquartered in London, with manufacturing sites in Croydon, Kentucky in the USA and at Brzeg in Poland (foam manufacture), also at Oklahoma, USA (foam products manufacture and conversion), as well as Anglesola and Burgos, Spain (foam manufacture) and Jiangsu Province, China (high-performance products).

It manufactures a range of closed-cell crosslinked foams from polyolefins and engineering polymers for global use in sports, construction, marine, automation, medical equipment and aerospace.

Trading Update

On Wednesday, 27^th May, the group reported strong trading for the four months to end-April, with revenue up 26% year-on-year to £64.1m, driven by robust demand and the contribution from Overseas Konstellation Company (OKC).

EMEA revenue grew 24% to £50.1m, North America saw 30% organic growth to £12.1m, and Asia doubled revenue to £1.9m.

Margins and cash generation remained in line with expectations, and the company's full-year outlook is unchanged, anticipating demand in key markets and OKC's contribution to offset moderation in Footwear.

2026 Outlook

It stated that the Board was encouraged by the solid start to 2026 and that it remained confident in its full-year expectations and the group’s long-term prospects.

Whilst mindful of elevated uncertainty in the macroeconomic backdrop, it continues to expect demand in key target markets, together with the contribution from OKC, to more than offset the moderation in Footwear.

The group noted that it is actively monitoring the impacts of instability in the Middle East, that it had taken steps to mitigate the impact of raw materials and other cost movements, and that it was well-positioned to adapt to evolving conditions.

Management Comment

Upon announcing a Trading Update on the first four months of the year, issued late-May, CEO Ronan Cox stated that:

"I am pleased with the business performance in the period, with growth delivered despite increased macro volatility.

We have made good progress integrating OKC and advancing our major projects in Vietnam, South Korea and the UK, bringing us closer to our customers and adding capacity for the next phase of growth.

Our focus on innovation, pricing and cost discipline continues to underpin performance.

With trading in the first four months in line with the Board's expectations, we remain confident in delivering our full-year objectives, supported by a strong balance sheet and continued demand across our key target markets."

Market Guidance

The Board noted that current market expectations for the year to end-December, were for revenue of £190.8m and adjusted profit before tax of £26.3m.

The Equity

There are some 49.65m shares in issue.

The larger holders include Schroder Investment Management (19.22%), Odd Asset Management (9.92%), Raymond James Investment Services (9.76%), IG Markets (3.88%), Hargreaves Lansdown Asset Management (3.83%), Premier Fund Managers (3.73%), Lombard Odier Asset Management (Europe) (3.49%), Odyssean Capital (3.22%), Interactive Investor Services (3.02%), and BlackRock Investment Management (UK) (2.67%).

Broker Views

Analysts Caroline de La Soujeole and Henry Carver, at Singer Capital Markets, rate the group’s shares as a Buy, with a 590p Target Price.

For the current year to end-December they estimate revenues of £191.5m (£158.5m), adjusted pre-tax profits of £27.1m (£21.2m), with earnings of 40.8p (36.8p) and paying out a dividend of 8.32p (7.85p) per share.

For the 2027 year, they go for £210.0m sales, £28.9m profits, 43.5p earnings and a per share dividend of 8.82p.

The year to end-2028 could show turnover of £211.0m, with £31.0m profits, generating earnings of 47.3p, easily covering a dividend of 9.35p per share.

Berenberg Bank rates the group’s shares as a Buy, with a Target Price of 590p.

Canaccord Genuity Capital Markets has a Buy rating and a 675p TP.

Peel Hunt has previously rated them as a Buy with a TP of 550p.

My View

This group’s shares, currently trading at 457p, are totally undervalued.

Just looking at the analyst Target Prices shows clearly that the market can expect them to rise a lot higher.

On the current profit projections, the shares are cheap, trading on 11.2 times current year earnings and just 10.4 times prospective.

I see them soon trading through the 500p level and into the 520p to 550p price range.

(Profile 26.06.19 @ 600p set a Target Price of 750p) 

(Profile 06.03.24 @ 330p set a Target Price of 395p*) 

(Profile 05.08.25 @ 278p set a Target Price of 347p*)

Aerospace foam use