Ownership of intellectual property (IP) is a clear sign a business boasts the 'economic moat' popularised by the world's greater investor Warren Buffett, especially in industries that rely on innovation. A company's ability to continually develop and protect its IP assets helps to defend its market share and profits from competitors, and the presence of a moat is reflected in the high...

Shares gain 9% at £29.78 in morning trading Group adjusted first-quarter pre-tax profit in line Good progress with five-point plan Shares in Croda International (CRDA) gained more than 9% after the speciality chemicals firm reported a 9% rise in constant currency group sales to £442 million for the three months ending 31 March. The company said it had made an encouraging start to the year...

Sales softened 1% to £1.62 billionPre-tax profit fell 12.1% to £207.8 millionShares down 35% over past yearShares in Croda International (CRDA) initially fell in early morning trading before recovering as the chemicals maker reported a 12.1% fall in pre-tax profit to £207.8 million for the year ended 31 December 2024.Group sales were 'impacted by the absence of Covid-19 lipids and weak...

Next year should prove a sweet one for Treatt (TET) and its shareholders. The extracts-to-ingredients supplier has the recipe for long-term growth and many of the hallmarks of a high-quality company including an unwavering focus on innovation, strong cash generation and double-digit returns on both equity and capital employed.Well-placed to profit as its end-markets recover from an unhelpful...

2023 underlying sales fall 11%Pre-tax profit slides by 70%Firm sees further margin pressureSpecialty chemical group Croda International (CRDA) posted a disappointing set of full-year 2023 results impacted by continued destocking by customers and a weak trading environment.The shares gave up 2.7% to £47.70 making them the worst performers in the FTSE 100. SALES DOWNTURNSales for the...

Croda shares down 31% year-to-dateDifficult economic background hits profitsNo sign of fourth quarter improvementShares in Croda International (CRDA) were marked down more than 4% in morning trade to £45.68 after the chemicals maker issued a profit warning pinned on a difficult global economic backdrop.The FTSE 100 company's second earnings alert this year accompanied an update on third...

Group performance 'in line' with expectationsPro forma sales down 6%Full year 2023 guidance reaffirmedShares in speciality chemicals maker Croda International (CRDA) were up more than 5% in morning trading to £59.44 despite the firm reporting an 80% fall in pre-tax profit to £128.7 million for the six months ending 30 June 2023 compared to £636.5 million in the same period last year.Croda...

Shares drop 13% on full year profit warningRapid customer destocking means profit cut by 13%Shares have halved in last 18 monthsShares in Croda International (CRDA) dropped 13% to £52.44 on Friday after the speciality chemicals company issued a full year profit warning following weaker than expected trading in the first five months of the year.It is one of the biggest daily falls seen in the...

London share prices started trading on Friday marginally lower, with the FTSE 100 bouncing between between green and red, as markets gear up for major central bank decisions next week.Weak US jobs data on Thursday are thought to have increased the chances of pause in monetary policy tightening by the Federal Reserve this month, while weak inflation in China is expected to prompt some form of...

Today's era of higher interest rates means shares face competition for investors' hard-earned savings money from the interest on cash and the coupons paid out by bonds. However, the purchasing power of cash is being eroded by inflation, while the coupons investors clip from bonds can only ever be fixed.'The beauty of equities and equity income is the growth,' says Troy Asset Management's Blake...

The UK?s first-half results reporting season is drawing to a close, and investors may be feeling they can breathe a sigh of relief. As in the US more firms are beating or meeting expectations and disappointments look relatively few and far between.Smith & Nephew (SN.) and Rolls-Royce (RR.) look to be the only real let-downs, while a range of industries from chemicals and banks to...

- US government to invest $75 million in new facility- Company forecasts $200 million of sales by 2025- Lipids vital for next-generation vaccinesShares in specialty-chemical company Croda International (CRDA) moved higher following the announcement it had signed a deal with the American government to support the expansion of a new lipid manufacturing facility in Pennsylvania.The US government...

With markets being buffeted by concerns over rising inflation and slowing growth - the dreaded 'stagflation' - and nothing but negative headlines it's easy to be despondent about the outlook for UK businesses.Yet, having scanned all the company announcements of the last couple of weeks, it's clear there are still dozens of firms which are optimistic about trading and/or are raising their...

As 2022 began many investment experts were whistling a similar tune; that conditions still look good but the rip-roaring rallies powered by the reopening are history. Growth will ease. Returns will moderate. Risks abound?but so do opportunities.As we close in on the halfway stage of 2022 investors have the opportunity to reflect, and it's a good bet that with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight,...

Income specialist Murray Income Trust (MUT) delivered a total return in net asset value of 7.2% for the six months to 31 December 2021.Performance was comfortably ahead of the FTSE All-Share return of 6.5% and means the trust is ahead its benchmark over one, three and five years. The shares reacted positively, gaining 1.3% to 833p.The company said it continued to benefit from its enlarged...

Disappointing UK growth figures put a spanner in the works for the FTSE 100 in early trade on Wednesday, defying expectations that Tuesday's rally would continue. The benchmark index around 0.3% to 7,277.92 but the falls remain marginal, so far.Gross domestic product in the world's fifth-biggest economy increased 1.1% in the third quarter to the end of September, weaker than a preliminary...

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On an invested sum of £210,000, the return over two years on my SIPP and stocks and shares ISA active retirement portfolio of around 30 shares is 12.4% excluding dividend payments.I have been documenting my investing experience in Shares since August 2020 and these articles have provided readers with an insight into how I try to make money from the markets and manage my...

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Constituents of the UK chemicals sector span both a wide range of market capitalisations and end markets.These include aerospace, automotive, coatings, semiconductors, sports and leisure and the global flavour and fragrance industries. The largest company in the UK chemicals sector, Croda (CRDA) has a market capitalization of £12.6 billion, this contrasts with AIM-quoted Biome Technologies...