Results for the six months ended 30 June 2026
Delivering transformation and innovation-led growth
FY26 outlook unchanged
Croda International Plc (“Croda” or the “Group”) the company that uses smart science to create high-performance ingredients and solutions that improve lives, announces its results for the six months ended 30 June 2026.
Highlights
| Statutory results (IFRS) |
Adjusted results | ||||||
| Half year ended 30 June | H126 | H125 | Change | H126 | H125 | Organic change |
Change |
|
Sales (£m) |
880.5 | 855.8 | 2.9% | 880.5 | 855.8 | 4.6% | 2.9% |
| EBITDA (£m) | 207.9 | 198.5 | 5.5% | 4.7% | |||
| EBITDA as a % of sales | 23.6% | 23.2% | – | 0.4ppts | |||
| Operating profit (£m) | 115.5 | 94.4 | 22.4% | 155.8 | 146.9 | 6.7% | 6.1% |
| Operating profit as a % of sales | 17.7% | 17.2% | – | 0.5ppts | |||
| Profit before tax (£m) | 107.4 | 85.5 | 25.6% | 147.7 | 138.0 | 7.6% | 7.0% |
| Basic earnings per share (p) | 56.5 | 43.8 | 29.0% | 78.6 | 72.2 | – | 8.9% |
| Interim dividend per share (p) | 48.0 | 48.0 | 0% | ||||
| Free cash flow (£m) | 38.3 | 28.0* | – | 36.8% | |||
| Net debt (£m) | 577.9 | 580.1 | – | (0.4)% | |||
*Restated to include cash costs of exceptional items in free cash flow, see page 4
Steve Foots, Chief Executive Officer, commented:
“We have delivered a good first half performance in line with our expectations with strong growth in Consumer Care. Group profits continue to grow ahead of sales, reflecting both increased customer demand for innovation and the benefits of our transformation programme. We are rigorously executing our plan to grow earnings and returns, successfully reinvigorating Beauty and seeing the early benefits of rebalancing Pharma. Despite the ongoing macro uncertainty, our outlook for full year 2026 is unchanged and we remain on track to deliver our financial framework for full year 2028.”
Delivering innovation-led growth
- 4.6% Group organic sales growth (OSG) in H126 driven by Consumer Care comprising:
- Consumer Care +8%:
- Beauty Actives +19%, Beauty Care +4%, Home Care +9%, Fragrances & Flavours (F&F) +8%
- Life Sciences flat:
- Pharma +1%, Crop (2)%, Seed +4%
- Industrial Specialties (2)%
- Strong Q2 sales performance at +9%:
- Limited impact from situation in Middle East
- Consumer Care +8%:
- Increased customer demand for innovation
- 6.9% organic sales increase in New & Protected Products, growing faster than total sales
- Positive volume and price/mix, reflecting growing demand for innovation-led solutions
- 6.7% organic increase in adjusted operating profit to £155.8m (H125: £146.9m) reflecting innovation-led growth and transformation benefits
- Adjusted operating margin 17.7% (H125: 17.2%)
- Expect further expansion in H2 supported by growth and additional transformation efficiencies
- IFRS operating profit of £115.5m (H125: £94.4m)
- 36.8% increase in free cashflow to £38.3m (H125: £28.0m restated*) supported by lower capex
- Leverage ratio 1.4x (H125: 1.5x)
- Interim dividend held flat at 48.0p as we restore earnings cover
Executing our three-year plan to grow earnings and returns
- Driving consistent sales growth
- Reinvigorating Beauty – growing share in "affordable beauty", customers' premium categories doing well
- Rebalancing Pharma
- Sales +7% in Ingredients (which represents >70% total Pharma sales), reflecting our actions to rebalance resources
- Sales (17)% in Solutions, adversely impacted by project phasing; project revenues expected to improve in H2
- Maximising returns from investments – ceramide sales +44% following a slow start post-acquisition; completed Asia expansion opening 2 new production sites in India and China
- Delivering transformation to enhance both growth and efficiency
- On track to deliver ~£100m efficiency benefits and ~£50m working capital improvements for FY28
- Delivered £18m of incremental savings in H126 in addition to the £10m benefits realised in the H125 comparator and the £18m delivered in H225
- On track to achieve framework to Full Year 2028 with progress across all key financial metrics
FY26 outlook unchanged
There is no change to our outlook for full year 2026 despite the ongoing geopolitical and macro-economic uncertainty. We continue to expect:
- Group organic sales growth within our 3-6% range
- A further increase in Group adjusted operating margin driven by improving profitability in Consumer Care and Life Sciences and the benefits of our transformation programme
Our expectations for Group full year 2026 adjusted operating profit are unchanged.
We will provide an update on third quarter sales performance on Thursday 5 November 2026.
Technical foreign exchange guidance
Further information:
An investor presentation will be available via webcast at 0900 BST on 28 July 2026 at www.croda.com/investors
Investors
David Bishop, Croda
+447823874428
Reece De Gruchy, Croda
+447826548908
Media
Charlie Armistead, FTI Consulting
+447703330269