Croda reports a 9.3% increase in first-half sales

U.K.-based Croda International Plc, a natural-based specialty chemicals company, posted a 9.3% increase in sales for the first half of 2011 to ₤559.6 million, from ₤511.9 million during the same period a year ago. Operating profit before tax rose 30% to ₤124.8 million, from ₤95.9 million during the same period a year ago. Both the consumer and industrial products business segments reported sales and profit growth in the first six months of the year, “despite the adverse currency translation and significant raw material cost inflation,” said Martin Flower, Croda chairman. “Tough comparatives were the main reason volumes were down 3.0% compared to 2010. We also saw slower sales in the United States as we reduced deliveries into our largest remaining distributor ahead of bringing this business in house,” he said. Flower said the company was able to protect its margins in both business segements, as it passed on higher raw material costs to its customers. The company’s chief executive officer, Mike Humphrey, also announced his retirement effective at the end of the year. Steve Foots, president of Croda Europe, will take over on January 1, 2012. (July 28, 2011)