(Alliance News) - Croda International PLC reported a fall in revenue and profit in its half-year, citing a difficult "market backdrop".
The FTSE 100-listed, Yorkshire-based chemicals maker said its pretax profit in its half year ended June 30 dropped 80% to GBP128.7 million from GBP636.5 million in the same period the prior year.
Croda International said the year before benefitted from a GBP360.6 million divestment of the majority of Croda's Performance Technologies and Industrial Chemicals business in June last year.
Revenue for the six months was down 22% to GBP880.9 million from GBP1.13 billion the year before, which was particularly driven by a drop in its Industrial Specialities sector to GBP122.1 million from GBP342.7 million year-on-year.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation fell to GBP219.2 million from GBP343.9 million at the same point the year before.
Free cash flow increased significantly to GBP76.4 million from GBP21.1 million. Whilst net debt widened by 5.4% to GBP394.3 million from GBP331.3 million.
Chief Executive Officer Steve Foots said: "Despite this difficult market backdrop, it is a testament to the strength of the Croda business that consumer care delivered sequential improvement on the second half of 2022, driven by customer demand for innovation and sustainability.
"The confidence we have in Croda's strategy is undiminished and the opportunities ahead remain very exciting for our business."
Croda International declared an interim dividend of 47.0 pence per share, unchanged from the year before, which it said reflected "confidence in future performance".
The company said it continued to expect full year adjusted pretax profit to be between GBP370 million and GBP400 million.
"We will leverage our strong balance sheet to sustain ongoing investment in our repositioned portfolio, focused on fast-growing niches, to create significant future value," said Croda International.
Shares in Croda International were up 4.3% at 5,908.00 pence in London on Tuesday morning.
By Will Neill, Alliance News reporter
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Croda International (CRDA)