Croda: Yorkshire chemicals firm sees rise in sales but warns of ‘uncertain’ outlook from Trump tariffs

The company said its first quarter pre-tax profit was also “in line with expectations”.

A statement from the firm said: “As widely reported, the recent introduction of trade tariffs and increased geopolitical tensions have made the global economic outlook more uncertain. Although our well-balanced local manufacturing and procurement model helps to mitigate our direct exposure to tariffs, we are assessing the likely impact, talking to our customers and intend to apply a tariff surcharge to cover any associated incremental costs.

“Whilst we recognise that the political and economic environment has become less predictable, the group's encouraging start to the year means that our full-year 2025 outlook is unchanged.”

The group said that it expects to deliver between £265m and £295m adjusted pre-tax profit at constant currency.

Croda said that its good sales growth in the first quarter had been driven by higher sales volumes, adding that the price mix headwinds the firm saw in 2024 had started to diminish.

It said that due to the higher sales volumes, asset utilisation at its 11 shared manufacturing sites had “continued to improve”.

On cost savings, the company said: “We have continued to successfully implement our plan to realise £25m of cost savings this year whilst identifying further opportunities to deliver operational efficiencies as part of our multi-year programme.”

Sales in Croda’s consumer care arm were up eight per cent on last year, while the firm’s sales in life sciences lifted by 10 per cent.

Meanwhile, sales in Croda International’s industrial specialities wing grew six per cent.

In Croda’s most recent annual results – posted in February – the firm reported a 12 per cent drop in pre-tax profits to £207.8m.

Its sales also fell just under four per cent to £1.62bn.

In a statement issued at the time, Steve Foots, chief executive officer of Croda, said: "2024 was another transitional year, following two years of unprecedented demand in 2021 and 2022, with an industry-wide reset from 2023.

"Whilst sales growth was lower than we hoped in a subdued demand environment, proactive actions to rebase costs and drive efficiencies enabled us to deliver profits in line with our guidance.”