Composites makers Hexcel Corp. and Cytec Industries Inc. each posted solid full-year sales gains in 2013.
Stamford, Conn.-based Hexcel saw 2013 sales grow more than 6 percent to almost $1.7 billion, as the firm's profit jumped more than 14 percent to almost $188 million.
At Woodland Park, N.J.-based Cytec, sales climbed more than 13 percent to top $1.9 billion, even as profit slipped almost 2 percent to just under $174 million.
"The large backlog of orders at our major customers suggests that we are well positioned for 2014 and beyond," CEO Nick Stanage said in a Jan. 23 news release.
In 2013, commercial aerospace was Hexcel's largest end market, bringing in almost 65 percent of sales. The firm's plastic-related products include aramid fibers and polyurethane core foams.
Officials at Cytec "are very excited about our reshaped portfolio and the growth opportunities available to us over the next five years," chairman, president and CEO Shane Fleming said in a Jan. 30 news release.
As with Hexcel, aerospace materials played a large role in Cytec's 2013 sales, generating almost half of the firm's total. Plastics-related products made by Cytec include specialty thermoplastic composites and polymer additives such as light stabilizers and antioxidants.
On Wall Street, per-share stock prices for both Hexcel and Cytec have fared well of late. Hexcel's per-share price was under $30 as recently as April, but rose to $45 in mid-January before closing near $41 on Feb. 5 as part of a broader market sell-off. Cytec's per-share price had been near $75 in August, but went above $90 in December and January before returning to $88 on Feb. 5.
