REG - Croda International - Third quarter 2024 sales update

Croda InternationalAnnouncement

11/11/2024 07:00

For best results when printing this announcement, please click on link below:
https://newsfile.refinitiv.com/getnewsfile/v1/story?guid=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20241111:nRSK6068La&default-theme=true

RNS Number : 6068L  Croda International PLC  11 November 2024

 

Press Release

11 November 2024

 

Third quarter 2024 sales update

Performance in line with expectations and FY24 outlook unchanged

Croda International Plc ("Croda" or the "Group") today provides an update on
its sales performance in the third quarter of 2024 (the three months ended 30
September 2024).

·      Group sales of £407m, up 5% versus the prior year and up 8% at
constant currency

·      FY24 outlook unchanged: adjusted profit before tax (PBT) range of
£260m-£280m at constant currency

·      Adverse impact of currency translation on FY24 PBT expected to be
approximately £14m

·      Refinanced Revolving Credit Facility with a new 5-year £630m
facility

Group performance
                               Change versus prior year
                         Q324  Q323       Change     Constant currency change

                         £m    £m
 Consumer Care           228   218        5%         7%
 Life Sciences           129   125        3%         6%
 Industrial Specialties  50    44         14%        16%
 Group                   407   387        5%         8%

 

Third quarter 2024 sales increased to £407m, up 5% on a reported basis on the
prior year and up 8% in constant currency.  Overall Group results were in
line with expectations benefitting from more stable volume demand in key
markets and continuing cost control actions.

As previously disclosed, for full year 2024 we still expect Group adjusted
profit before tax to be between £260m and £280m at constant currency.
Sterling strengthened further in the third quarter, and we estimate the
adverse impact of currency translation on full year Group adjusted profit
before tax to be approximately £14m assuming 30 September 2024 exchange rates
for the remainder of the year.

Effective 25 October 2024, we successfully refinanced our bank Revolving
Credit Facility with a new 5-year £630m multi-currency facility.

Consumer Care

Reported sales in Consumer Care were up 5% versus the prior year whilst
constant currency sales grew by 7%, driven by higher sales volumes as demand
stabilised and ongoing customer regains were realised.

Consumer Care sales in the quarter were in line with our expectations. We saw
ongoing momentum in Fragrances & Flavours and Home Care, as well as good
demand from local customers in Beauty, but lower demand from multi-national
Beauty customers compared to the previous quarter.

Life Sciences

Reported sales in Life Sciences were up 3% versus the prior year whilst
constant currency sales grew by 6%.

Sales were higher in both Crop Protection and Seed Enhancement, with increased
sales volumes benefitting from more stable customer inventories and demand.

In Pharma, the lipids business continues to grow as customer pipelines for
next generation drugs continue to expand, however sales for consumer health
applications are yet to see a recovery.

Industrial Specialties

Reported sales in Industrial Specialties grew by 14% versus the prior year
whilst constant currency sales grew by 16% driven by higher sales volumes.

Steve Foots, Chief Executive Officer, said:

"Our third quarter sales performance reflects ongoing momentum in our
Fragrances and Flavours business within Consumer Care and improved sales in
our agriculture businesses in Life Sciences. Whilst we are benefitting from
more stable customer inventories and demand in key markets and geographies,
the overall trading environment remains challenging. We continue to focus on
strengthening the Group through delivering our strategy combined with tight
cost control and capital discipline."

Currency translation

Constant currency expectations are based on the Group's average exchange rates
through 2023 which were US$1.243 and €1.149. 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.

Croda will report financial results for full year 2024 on 25 February 2025.

For enquiries contact

Investors:          David Bishop, Croda
 
+44 7823 874428

                          Reece De Gruchy, Croda
                                  +44 7826 548908

Press:               Charlie Armitstead, FTI Consulting
                     +44 7703 330269

2023 and 2024 quarterly sales performance

 

             Consumer  Life       Industrial    Group  Life Sciences  Group

 Sales £m    Care      Sciences   Specialties          (ex-CV19)*     (ex-CV19)*
 Q1 2023     236.8     170.8      69.1          476.7  170.8          476.7
 Q2 2023     218.8     132.4      53.0          404.2  132.4          404.2
 Q3 2023     218.2     125.0      43.7          386.9  125.0          386.9
 Q4 2023     212.3     174.1      40.3          426.7  126.1          378.7
 Q1 2024     236.8     121.8      49.9          408.5  121.8          408.5
 Q2 2024     231.6     124.4      51.4          407.4  124.4          407.4
 Q3 2024     228.1     128.8      49.7          406.6  128.8          406.6

*Life Sciences and Group sales exclude £48m of lipid sales for CV19 vaccine
applications in Q4 2023. They are excluded from this growth calculation to
give a more informative comparator to the underlying business, as no CV19
lipid sales are expected in 2024.

 
Constant currency definition

Constant currency results reflect current year performance for existing
business translated at the prior year's average exchange rates. For constant
currency sales, local currency sales are translated into the most relevant
functional currency of the destination country of sale (for example, sales in
Latin America are primarily made in US Dollars, which is therefore used as the
functional currency). Sales in functional currency are then translated into
Sterling using the prior year's average rates for the corresponding period.

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact
rns@lseg.com (mailto:rns@lseg.com)
 or visit
www.rns.com (http://www.rns.com/)
.

RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our
Privacy Policy (https://www.lseg.com/privacy-and-cookie-policy)
.   END  UPDBPBRTMTAMBPI