A leading supplier of engineered materials that has a site in Gloucestershire has seen income rise despite the challenges faced by the pandemic.

Employing over 2,560 people in more than 100 countries, including Church Road in Lydney, Glatfelter Corporation, reported a net income of just under £6 million ($8.4 million) for the first three months of 2021.

This was compared to £5.2 million ($7.4 million) over the same period the previous year.

Dante C. Parrini, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Glatfelter, said the firm were able to effectively manage costs and drive operating efficiencies despite a challenging market.

"Composite Fibres performed better than expected as volume growth in food and beverage and favourable wallcover demand improved overall product mix and asset utilisation, thereby helping to drive a 6% increase in year-over-year operating profit," he said.

"In Airlaid Materials (a fabric like material which belongs to the nonwoven materials group), volumes were under pressure, especially in the tabletop category that was down 55% compared to last year due to the pandemic as restaurant dining remains slow to recover.

"We also experienced lower than anticipated demand in wipes, homecare and feminine hygiene products as customers recalibrated order levels to account for Covid-driven year-end inventory reserves. Despite the overall market volatility, both segments achieved healthy EBITDA margins in the mid-teens.

"Our recently announced price increases in the Composite Fibres segment are contributing to offset the steep raw material, energy and logistics cost inflation we are experiencing. While we continue to navigate the dynamic demand conditions resulting from the pandemic, we remain very optimistic about the long-term growth prospects that our essential consumer staples portfolio has to offer as we focus on strong commercial execution to optimize performance in the near term."

Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, Glatfelter are in the process of acquiring Georgia-Pacific's US nonwovens business, with it expected to be completed by mid-May.

"We are excited to begin the integration process that we expect will enable capacity optimisation, improve operational enhancements and accelerate innovation efforts to better service our customers' growing needs, especially in the wipes category," added Mr Parrini.

"Glatfelter is well-positioned to capture and service the growing demand in the broader health and hygiene categories as we continue to make meaningful and accretive investments to add further scale to our platforms."