james cropper plc said monday that its firsthalf was hurt by inflationary headwinds and that its results for the period will be at a breakeven position and that it was lowering expectations for fiscal 2023 the uk advancedmaterials and paperproducts group said its paper division was hit hardest as it is an intensive energy business but that it is mitigating the effect with price increases and energy surcharges the company said that despite rising rawmaterial and energy costs the second half has showed a recovery through aggressive pricing actions and surcharges and that these were supported by the recentlyannounced support by the uk government on energyprices the company said each of its divisions projected volume growth over the second half and that its order books are full for the year ending march 2023 james cropper expects adjusted pretax profit to be 20 million pounds 23 million compared with previous market expectations of gbp54 million overall despite the short term setback in profitability growth prospects for the group as a whole remain significant in the coming years chairman mark cropper said