Croda International (CRDA) made the most of a big boost to its free cash flow and delivered a special dividend of 115p per share, taking its total dividend to 202p.
The speciality chemicals business owed much of its 58 per cent rise in free cash flow to the completion of its North America bio-surfactant plant, heralding the end of “a period of high capital expenditure” as net capital expenditure fell to £103m from £157m. Unfortunately for Croda, the new plant, which at $200m (£152m) is the biggest capital investment in its history, experienced a leak in November 2018 owing to an incorrect seal fitted during construction. Croda plans to bring the plant back online later this year – until then, unrecovered quarterly operating costs of around £2m are being incurred.
Broker Numis forecasts full-year 2019 pre-tax profits and earnings per share of £352m and 198p respectively, against £329m and 186p in the prior year.
| CRODA INTERNATIONAL (CRDA) | ||||
| ORD PRICE: | 4,887p | MARKET VALUE: | £ 6.43bn | |
| TOUCH: | 4,883-4,887p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 5,330p | LOW: 4,360p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 1.8% | PE RATIO: | 27 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 753p* | NET DEBT: | 43% | |
| Year to 31 Dec | Turnover (£bn) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
| 2014 | 1.05 | 229 | 122 | 65.5 |
| 2015 | 1.08 | 252 | 133 | 69.0 |
| 2016 | 1.24 | 276 | 148 | 74.0 |
| 2017 | 1.37 | 314 | 181 | 81.0 |
| 2018** | 1.40 | 318 | 181 | 87.0 |
| % change | +2 | +1 | - | +7 |
| Ex-div: | 11 Apr | |||
| Payment: | 30 May | |||
| *Includes intangible assets of £455m, or 346p a share **Does not include special dividend of 100p in respect of 2016 and 115p in respect of 2018 | ||||
