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Croda International PLC on Friday backed its full-year forecasts following a strong start to 2022 which saw the firm ‘successfully’ mitigate inflation pressures.
The Yorkshire, England-based chemicals maker recorded continued sales and profit growth across the business and said it has continued to recover significant input cost inflation.
Demand was particularly strong in North America and Asia, the FTSE 100 listed firm noted.
‘Notably, April sales in China were ahead of the prior year despite local Covid-19 lockdowns,’ it said.
By division, the Consumer Care unit saw robust demand, Croda said,while there was also ‘good growth’ in Beauty Actives, Beauty Care, Home Care, and Fragrances & Flavours.
Croda explained that Fragrances & Flavours specifically benefited from integration synergies and the recent acquisition of Parfex SA. This is a Grasse, France-based fragrance business Croda acquired in April for a total enterprise value of €45 million.
Croda also registered growth in its Life Sciences division, which benefited from strong market conditions in crop protection and capacity expansion across Croda's health care platforms, it said.
As a result, Croda left its full-year expectations unchanged.
Croda said that the planned disposal of the majority of its Performance Technologies and Industrial Chemicals businesses is continuing ‘to plan’. The firm expects these to complete this summer.
The potential sale of Croda Sipo in China continues to be explored with its joint venture partner, it said.
In December, Croda agreed to sell the majority of its PTIC businesses to Cargill Inc for an enterprise value of €915 million on a cash-free, debt-free basis. Croda noted back then that the price of €915 million includes 100% of the Sipo joint venture. If the sale of 100% of Sipo cannot be achieved, it will be excluded from the deal, reducing the purchase price by €140 million. The disposals are part of its strategy to transition into a focused Life Sciences and Consumer Care company.
Croda International shares were trading 4.0% higher at 6,812.00 pence each in London on Friday morning.
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