Croda profits soar as chemical sales pick up

22nd Feb 2011 07:55

The global economic recovery helped speciality chemicals group Croda International more than double pre-tax profits in the year to 31 December. Pre-tax profits jumped to £192m from £91m the previous year on revenues that rose to £1bn from £828m.During the year Croda, whose products range from ingredients used in skin moisturiser to chemicals used in printing ink, applied its strategy of focusing on lower volume high quality ingredients, which has already been implemented in consumer care, to industrial products, helping to boost sales.Tight cost control and the closure of operations at Wilton in Teeside helped the company improve returns in consumer care and industrial sectors."The strong trading performance during the fourth quarter has continued into 2011," the company said. "We are continuing to see significant raw material inflation and have increased our prices as we entered the year to protect our profitability."