REG - Croda International - First quarter 2025 sales update

Croda InternationalAnnouncement

23/04/2025 07:00

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RNS Number : 7499F  Croda International PLC  23 April 2025

Press Release

23 April 2025

 

First quarter 2025 sales update

Encouraging start to the year with good sales growth

Croda International Plc ("Croda" or the "Group") today provides an update on
its sales performance in the first quarter of 2025 (the three months ended 31
March 2025).

·      Group sales of £442m, up 8% versus the prior year and up 9% at
constant currency

·      Life Sciences, Consumer Care and Industrial Specialities all
delivered good sales growth

·      Good progress delivering our five-point plan to drive sales
growth and margin recovery

·      Q1 profit before tax in line with expectations

 
Group performance
                                                                Change versus
                               prior year
                         Q125  Q124                         Change                       Constant currency change

                         £m    £m
 Consumer Care           255   237                          8%                           8%
 Life Sciences           134   122                          10%                          11%
 Industrial Specialties  53    50                           6%                           7%
 Group                   442   409                          8%                           9%

 

First quarter sales increased to £442m, up 8% on a reported basis on the
prior year and up 9% in constant currency. Good sales growth was driven by
higher sales volumes with the price/mix headwinds we saw in 2024 starting to
diminish. Overall, Group adjusted profit before tax in the first quarter was
in line with our expectations.

With higher sales volumes in the first quarter, asset utilisation at our 11
shared manufacturing sites has continued to improve. We have continued to
successfully implement our plan to realise £25m of cost savings this year
whilst identifying further opportunities to deliver operational efficiencies
as part of our multi-year programme.

Overall, we are making good progress delivering the five priorities outlined
in February to improve our financial performance. These are to grow sales by:

·      Leveraging our proximity to customers

·      Converting our innovation pipelines

·      Driving value from recent investments

and to drive margin recovery by:

·      Increasing sales volumes to enhance utilisation rates

·      Realigning our cost base

As widely reported, the recent introduction of trade tariffs and increased
geopolitical tensions have made the global economic outlook more uncertain.
Although our well-balanced local manufacturing and procurement model helps to
mitigate our direct exposure to tariffs, we are assessing the likely impact,
talking to our customers and intend to apply a tariff surcharge to cover any
associated incremental costs.

Whilst we recognise that the political and economic environment has become
less predictable, the Group's encouraging start to the year means that our
Full Year 2025 outlook is unchanged. As things stand, we continue to expect to
deliver £265m to £295m Group adjusted profit before tax at constant
currency.

 

 

Regional performance
 % change in sales versus the prior year  Change  Constant currency change
 EMEA                                     11%     13%
 North America                            4%      4%
 Latin America                            6%      5%
 Asia                                     8%      9%
 Group                                    8%      9%

All regions delivered good sales growth, with EMEA particularly strong.

 
Business performance
Consumer Care
 % change in sales versus the prior year  Change  Constant currency change
 Beauty Actives                           (2)%    (1)%
 Beauty Care                              5%      6%
 F&F                                      19%     19%
 Home Care                                5%      5%
 Total Consumer Care                      8%      8%

Sales in Consumer Care were up 8% both on a reported and constant currency
basis, driven by higher sales volumes and continued strong demand from local
customers. Fragrances & Flavours continued to deliver strong sales growth.
Beauty Care and Home Care delivered mid-single digit percentage sales growth
driven by higher sales volumes. Year-on-year sales were down slightly in
Beauty Actives against a good comparator period but were up strongly on a
sequential basis compared with the final quarter of 2024.

Life Sciences
 % change in sales versus the prior year  Change  Constant currency change
 Pharma                                   6%      7%
 Crop Protection                          17%     18%
 Seed Enhancement                         14%     15%
 Total Life Sciences                      10%     11%

Reported sales in Life Sciences were up 10%, or by 11% at constant currency.
Crop Protection and Seed Enhancement both delivered strong sales growth.
Pharma sales were also higher, both on a year-on-year and a sequential
business, with growth in our strategic focus areas in biopharma more than
offsetting continued challenges in consumer health and veterinary markets.

Industrial Specialties

Reported sales in Industrial Specialties grew by 6%, or by 7% at constant
currency, again driven by higher sales volumes.

 
Quarterly sales performance
 Quarterly sales        Consumer  Life       Industrial    Group

 £m                     Care      Sciences   Specialties
 Q1 2024                236.8     121.8      49.9          408.5
 Q2 2024                231.6     124.4      51.4          407.4
 Q3 2024                228.1     128.8      49.7          406.6
 Q4 2024                223.5     129.3      52.8          405.6
 Q1 2025                255.1     134.5      52.7          442.3
 Half yearly sales £m   Consumer  Life       Industrial    Group

                        Care      Sciences   Specialties
 H1 2024                468.4     246.2      101.3         815.9
 H2 2024                451.6     258.1      102.5         812.2

 

 

Further information

Croda is hosting a conference call for analysts and investors at 7.30am BST
this morning. Please register in advance at: www.croda.com/investors
(http://www.croda.com/investors) .

Our Annual General Meeting (AGM) is taking place at 12 noon today at The
Milner York, Station Road, York, England, YO24 1AA.

Croda will report half year 2025 results on 29 July 2025.

 
Technical foreign exchange guidance

Constant currency expectations are based on the Group's average exchange rates
through 2024 which were US$1.28 and €1.18. The US Dollar and the Euro
represent approximately 65% of the Group's currency translation exposure. We
estimate that the average annual currency translation impact on adjusted
operating profit is £1m per Dollar cent movement per annum and £1m per Euro
cent movement per annum.

 
For enquiries contact

 

 Investors:  David Bishop                         +44 7823 874428
             Reece De Gruchy                      +44 7826 548908
 Media:      Charlie Armitstead (FTI Consulting)  +44 7703 330269
             Mariana Wood                         +44 7780 987136

 

 

 

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