Sterling's weakness helps profits at chemicals firm Croda

Sterling's weakness has continued to benefit Croda Photo: PA

The Goole-based company said third quarter sales continued broadly in line with the first half year trends, and profit was in line with its expectations. Sales rose by 20.1 per cent to £315.3m.

The company said: “With over 95 per cent of sales outside the UK, this largely reflected favourable currency translation, with the impact of weaker sterling increasing sales by 17.6 per cent.

“Year to date sales increased by 11.7 per cent to £924.0m, with a favourable currency translation impact of 9.3 per cent.”

Croda said its personal care business continued to benefit from a “richer product mix”.

Commenting on outlook, the company said: “Demand remains subdued in a number of our end markets, while profitability continues to be strong, supported by improved product mix and innovation.

“We expect to deliver our profit expectations for the full year and sterling’s weakness continues to benefit our reported results.”