Snaith-based life sciences company Croda reports adjusted profit before tax for the last year down 33% to £308.8m – but the number isn’t unexpected and the group expects the figure for 2024 to be between £260m and £300m.
CEO Steve Foots says the firm is well-positioned for market recovery, adding: “Our performance this year reflects the prolonged destocking and weaker macro environment that has followed two record years post the pandemic.
“Despite the financial impact of this ongoing uncertainty, the technology trends that will drive our future growth have not changed with a continued transition to sustainable ingredients and biologics. We have successfully realigned our portfolio with these megatrends and our strategy is delivering with continued customer demand for innovation and sustainable ingredients.
“In Consumer Care, sales of new and protected products increased, and F&F outperformed once again. In Life Sciences, our Pharma business is leading the industry in biologics drug delivery with more partnerships and product launches strengthening our pipeline. Despite the challenging macroeconomic backdrop, we have continued to invest for the future, adding biotech-derived active ingredients to our portfolio through our acquisition of Solus Biotech and expanding capacity in Pharma whilst maintaining strict capital and cost discipline.
“Given the ongoing uncertainty in our end markets, the recovery trajectory for each of our business units remains difficult to predict and the range of possible outcomes in 2024 is therefore wider than usual at this stage of the year. Overall, however, the Group expects to deliver mid to high single digit percentage sales growth in 2024, excluding the c.$60m of Covid-19 lipid sales in 2023, with higher sales volumes more than offsetting lower price/mix.”
