Croda
(CRDA) £51.58

Gain to date: 18.5%

Original entry point: 

Buy at £43.47, 15 Feb 2018

Chemicals company Croda (CRDA) is continuing to deliver strong trading as its latest half-year results beat expectations thanks to its Personal Care and Life Sciences divisions.

Since our last update in April, shares in Croda have gained approximately 11% to £51.58.

Pre-tax profit rose 1.7% to £170.8m in the first half of 2018 and sales were up 0.6% at £702.8m when the impact of currency changes are stripped out.

In Personal Care, sales growth came in at 9.3% while revenue growth in the Life Sciences division was 2.3%.

Croda’s strategy is to drive top line organic growth for stronger margins and invest in disruptive technologies for future growth.

This latter part of the strategy was reflected in the acquistion during the period of marine biotech firm Nautilus, which uses microbial biodiversity to create new actives and ingredients.

Numis analyst Kevin Fogarty reckons Croda’s strengthening balance sheet can yield rewards for shareholders with a special dividend potentially in the pipeline later this year.

He is impressed with improving profitability as Croda increased earnings margins by 50 basis points despite headwinds from currency fluctuations, which are forecast to moderate in
the second half of 2018.  

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