LONDON (dpa-AFX) - Specialty chemicals company Croda International Plc. (CRDA.L) reported Tuesday that its first-half profit before tax climbed 41 percent to 204.1 million pounds from last year's 144.9 million pounds.
Basic earnings per share were 110 pence, up 30.8 percent from 84.1 pence a year ago.
Adjusted profit before tax was 229.5 million pounds, compared to 152.5 million pounds last year. Adjusted earnings per share were 124 pence, compared to prior year's 88.8 pence.
Sales for the first half grew 38.8 percent to 934 million pounds from 672.9 million pounds a year ago. Underlying sales went up 27 percent on 2020, driven by growth across all sectors.
Sales were well above the pre-pandemic 2019 levels, up over 10 percent in underlying terms.
Further, the company announced interim ordinary dividend growth of 10 percent to 43.5 pence.
Looking ahead, the company now expects 2021 full-year adjusted profit before tax to be significantly ahead of current expectations.
Subject to there being no material change in current market conditions, the company expects a similar phasing of profit between the first and second half periods as seen in previous years.
Croda expects underlying growth across all sectors to continue in the second half year, driven by consumer demand, whilst the customer restocking seen in the first half is expected to moderate.
The company projects continued strong demand for lipid systems and are increasing guidance for sales this year to at least $200 million.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX