Feb 24 (Reuters) - British specialty chemicals maker Croda International posted better-than-expected annual profit on Tuesday, helped by growth in its consumer care and life sciences divisions. The
Croda Aims for Higher Profit Margins with Strategic Overhaul
Feb 24 (Reuters) - Britain's Croda International set out ambitious profit margin targets for 2028, as the specialty chemicals maker continued to streamline its business after facing subdued demand in some regions due to U.S. tariffs last year.
Operational Overhaul and Strategic Adjustments
The company, which provides ingredients for the beauty, agriculture, and pharmaceutical industries, overhauled its operations and sites, and tightened procurement to get a better handle on costs, which were exacerbated by client destocking and tariffs.
Croda took impairment charges totaling 107.3 million pounds in 2025, including 44.6 million pounds related to placing its Lamar lipids facility in the United States on standby as customer projects requiring large-scale production were taking longer to materialize than expected.
Financial Impacts and Impairment Charges
The firm, which makes peptides for anti-aging creams and lipids for drug delivery, said it expects adjusted group operating margin to cross 20% for 2028, after its annual pretax profit beat market expectations.
Future Profit Margin Expectations
It logged 276.2 million pounds ($372.51 million) in adjusted pretax profit for the year, above analysts' average expectations of 267.8 million pounds, as per a company-compiled poll.
Exceeding Financial Projections
($1 = 0.7415 pounds)
(Reporting by Yamini Kalia in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)
