Croda International sales hit £2 billion as profits rise by 11%

The British company said its Consumer Care division delivered a solid performance, with sales up 18% at £897.8m and adjusted operating profit 9% higher at £204.7m, albeit with margin diluted by lower volume and change in product mix.

Growth remained robust in the second half year across Asia, Europe and Latin America, partly offset by customer destocking that was particularly apparent in North America, it added.

Croda noted its Beauty Care and F&F grew faster than the higher margin Beauty Actives business and divisional growth slowed in the second half of 2022.

“Full year volume was 12% lower than 2021, driven by two components. Firstly, destocking developed across our customers and the retail supply chain. Slowing consumer sales led to destocking by customers in the second half of 2022, particularly in North America,” it said in a statement.

“Secondly, volume was lower due to selective demarketing of lower margin products due to capacity constraints in some Croda sites, together with the closure of our Russia office. It is estimated that customer destocking has accounted for 5% of the volume decline, with 5% from demarketing and the balance from Russia and other impacts.”

Looking ahead, Croda said it expects the customer destocking that has been particularly apparent in North America to come to an end in the first half year, supporting continued sales growth this year in Consumer Care.

“2022 has been a milestone year for Croda as we continued our transition to a pure play Consumer Care and Life Sciences business, evolving our portfolio to be more closely aligned to the emerging megatrends driving our markets,” said CEO Steve Foots.

“For the first time, we delivered over £2 billion in sales and £500m in adjusted operating profit, reflecting progress across all areas of our business. Consumer Care is increasingly resilient, supported by encouraging growth in our F&F business,” he added.