Croda Share Discussion Threads

[shawylove] 22/5/2012 20:31

This share always holds up when the market take a fall, then rises well.

[broadwood] 16/5/2012 09:15

Crikey. What lit the fuse here this morning?

Can't see any upgrades on the radar yet.

[blondeamon] 07/5/2012 12:19

Anyone believes this will open a lot higher than it closed on Friday? The bad US news seemed to affected it badly.

[blondeamon] 01/5/2012 18:20

Nice divis today!!

[broadwood] 27/4/2012 17:11

Normal service resumed.

[broadwood] 27/4/2012 07:50

A Questor rec. is a mixed blessing but this company is in an extremely profitable niche with little competition. dyor


LONDON (SHARECAST) - In the Telegraph, the Questor column puts speciality chemicals maker Croda firmly under the microscope.

It makes many of the ingredients for cosmetics like lipstick and yesterday reported sales up 4.7% in the first quarter. The shares have been going great guns this year, up nearly 30% since December. That rise has left them at an earnings multiple of 16.7 times 2012 forecast earnings. Questor says hold

[blondeamon] 26/4/2012 15:31

This is a beauty!! Good news don't stop coming.

[broadwood] 26/4/2012 08:58

Good results as usual.

Bit of profit taking after a storming run.

[broadwood] 17/4/2012 10:47

sawadee - I think you hold these. I see one broker has downgraded from Buy to Hold this a.m. AGM next week - 26th

I probably will still hold until that date to see what they say. They've never disappointed yet.

Just for info.

[blondeamon] 27/3/2012 16:55

I envy the guy who sold 400k worth of shares today, awarded in 2008. These must be 5-baggers already!

[blondeamon] 19/3/2012 09:39

What's the resistance levels for this one? I was hoping to stay in till after the dividends on May.

[broadwood] 09/3/2012 09:14

Normal service continues.

[miked500] 08/3/2012 11:00

dropped like a stone?

[broadwood] 08/3/2012 10:12

We're playing in the big league now.

Trackers climb on.

[broadwood] 05/3/2012 13:23

FTSE Group ("FTSE") confirms today that, global investment management group, Aberdeen Asset Management, and global leader in speciality chemicals, Croda International, will be joining the FTSE 100 Index. In the rebalance, Cairn Energy and Essar Energy will leave the UK's leading index and enter the FTSE 250 Index.

[shawylove] 24/2/2012 12:39

Still a bit of upside left in this, once the Trackers start using this. Roll on 7th march. FTSE 100. Good Company With Good employees.

[broadwood] 24/2/2012 08:14

What a week for CRDA - over £22 now.

Momentum of FTSE inclusion still making for positivity.

[broadwood] 23/2/2012 13:35

They're playing catch up.


. Numis Croda... 23/02/12 10:03 Upgrades Hold Add 1 1,997.00 2,370.00 373 1

[broadwood] 23/2/2012 06:02

This is likely to get into the FTSE at the March review which means trackers will have to buy - so even with the strong rise. there could be more to come.


Croda International

Croda makes the building blocks for products such as sun-creams and fertilisers, as well as industrial applications.

Full-year numbers were ahead of consensus expectations in terms of pre-tax profits, earnings per share and dividend. This was despite a challenging environment in its European industrial specialities unit in the final quarter of last year.

In the 12 months to December, pre-tax profits rose 25.9pc to £242.2m, beating expectations by 1.8pc. This was on sales that were 6.6pc ahead at £1.068bn.

The final dividend was raised by almost 20pc to 30.25p a share, bringing the total payment for the year to 55p – an increase of 57.1pc. The final payment will be made
on June 1.

The strong rise in the payment reflects Croda's new dividend policy to pay out between 40pc and 50pc of annual earnings. The dividend is in addition to a £50m share buyback completed during the year.

Croda is also a strong candidate for entry into the FTSE 100 when the reshuffle is unveiled next month.

The company has proved over recent years that it is able to pass on the cost of rising feedstock prices to customers. This role as a price-setter rather than a price-taker is very important for profits. Management expects input costs to continue to rise, but it is important to note that the majority of its feedstocks do not come from oil – about 75pc are from renewable sources such as
rape-seed oil and palm oil.

The company is split into two units – consumer care and industrial specialities. Growth at its consumer unit was strong, with sales up 11.2pc in 2011, with industrial specialities growing by 1.8pc. Obviously, the industrial operations are leveraged to any upturn.

The European industrial operations had a difficult fourth quarter, with total sales at the unit actually falling by 4.8pc. Sales at consumer care, however, rose by more than 9pc in the quarter.

The new management has also introduced some new financial targets. For consumer care, Croda has upped its medium-term target for a return on sales to 25pc from 20pc. In industrials, the return on sales target is upped from 15pc to 20pc.

Croda has been extremely rewarding for investors over the past few years, as its strategy of focusing on low-volume, high-margin speciality chemicals boosted profitability. This means the shares are now trading at all-time highs. They are up 21pc since they were last tipped on December 21 last year, compared with a FTSE 100 up 10pc, and an impressive 445pc since they were tipped at 389¾p on December 9, 2008.

The shares are currently trading on a December 2012 earnings multiple of 15.6 times, falling to 15.1 in 2013, and are yielding a prospective 2.7pc, rising to 3pc in 2013.

Questor suspects the shares may pause for breath now after such a strong run, so rates the shares a hold.

However, any investors that bought in at a low level should top-slice this investment and sell half.

[broadwood] 22/2/2012 08:04

This one will help - TP increased substantially.

Deutsche Bank Croda... 22/02/12 07:42 Retains Buy Buy 0 2,200.00 2,450.00

[gardenarc] 21/2/2012 09:08

Good results again nice.

[broadwood] 21/2/2012 08:12

Excellent figures as usual. The slight weakness in December seems to have been made up in January.

Now for some Brokers verdicts.

[broadwood] 20/2/2012 17:07

Results tomorrow. They've never disappointed whilst I've held them but the comparables will be that much harder this time around.

Its a quality company.

[naked trader] 16/2/2012 10:54

FTSE 100 entry next month and hardly a mention!