Accsys Technologies (LON: AXS), the maker of acetylated wood products Accoya and Tricoya, saw its shares fall sharply today after a trading update flagged a weaker-than-expected start to its 2027 financial year. The company’s Accoya solid wood and Tricoya wood chips are sold through distributors worldwide for use in windows, doors, cladding and decking.
Shares fell from Friday’s close of 71.6p to 63.81p by mid-morning today, a decline of 10.88%, with an intraday low of 63.08p. That leaves the stock close to its 52-week low of 58.096p, well below the 52-week high of 79.84p, underlining how sharply sentiment has turned over the past year.
The RNS trading update, published before today’s market open, covered the five months to 31 August. Group revenue fell 6% to €56.9m from €60.4m a year earlier, while sales volumes dropped 11% to 22,186 cubic metres from 24,807. Including its 60%-owned joint venture, aggregated revenue also fell 6%, to €67.5m from €71.6m, even though JV volumes rose 3% to 6,767 cubic metres; combined Group and JV volumes still fell 8% to 28,953 cubic metres. Accsys blamed macroeconomic headwinds, including inflation and higher interest rates, alongside the Middle East conflict, which it said triggered widespread distributor destocking, running down inventory rather than ordering fresh stock, with North America hit hardest.
Despite the weaker top line, management held full-year adjusted EBITDA guidance, a profit measure before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, at €21m to €23m, still ahead of last year, against a market consensus of €28.8m as of Friday. Underlying EBITDA, excluding the joint venture, remains broadly in line with market expectations. The company said the destocking phase has ended, customer inventories are stabilising, and trading has strengthened through September, with North American full-year growth now expected only in single digits amid historically high distributor stock levels ahead of production starting at its Kingsport site.
The scale of today’s fall against guidance held steady suggests the market is weighting the slower start and North American demand softness more heavily than management’s reassurance on margins and a second-half recovery.
Accsys is due to announce interim results on 24 November.