Synthomer shares fall as specialty chemicals firm maintains 2026 outlook, weaker chemical prices weigh

June 22 (Reuters) - UK speciality chemicals supplier Synthomer's shares fell as much as 14% on Monday, reversing earlier gains, with analysts saying the lack of a guidance upgrade sparked investor concerns about the sustainability of its first-half momentum into the rest of 2026.

Synthomer, which makes polymers for coatings, adhesives and medical gloves, said market-share gains due to supply disruptions at Asian rivals and customer stockpiling boosted demand, resulting in second-quarter growth in volumes, margins and EBITDA above its expectations.

• Synthomer has seen significant raw material and energy cost increases following the start of the Iran war earlier this year.

• Despite reporting a robust first-half performance, the company maintained its guidance for 2026, with CEO Michael Willome cautioning that the volatile geopolitical environment has made it difficult to predict how conditions could change.

• "The lack of change in guidance commentary would suggest the management sees some risk about the sustainability of recent strong performance into the 2H of this year, as do we," said Jefferies analyst Vanessa Jeffriess.

• The recent decline in the prices of bulk chemicals, including nitrile latex, as availability in China improved could also have sparked investor concerns, said Berenberg analyst Sebastian Bray.

• Synthomer said its first-quarter performance was in line with expectations, with growth in the Coatings & Construction Solutions unit offsetting slower starts in Health & Protection and Performance Materials.

• The speciality chemicals supplier has 29 manufacturing sites across Europe, North America, the Middle East and Asia.

• The company's shares fell as much as 14% to 98.4 pence, reversing course from an 8% increase earlier in the day.

(Reporting by Neeshita Beura and Anushka Chourasia in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia Cheema and Jonathan Ananda)