(Reuters) -British specialty chemicals maker Croda International flagged on Thursday a continued challenging trading environment for the rest of the year as U.S. tariffs were hurting exports of its pharmaceutical and agricultural customers in some regions.
The company, which provides ingredients for the beauty, agriculture, and pharmaceutical industries, pointed to low visibility in its order book as levies by the U.S. government add to the volatility in its markets.
However, Croda reaffirmed its outlook for 2025 on a boost from cost cuts, as the company posted a 6.5% rise in third-quarter sales at constant currency rates, helped by steadier demand in the beauty and crop‑sciences sectors.
The company’s shares were up about 3.5% in early trading.
Croda has been cutting costs by streamlining operations and sites, tightening procurement, and in April said it would pass on tariff surcharges to customers, while it also faces some destocking.
Tariffs have hurt exports of its customers in the pharmaceutical and industrial markets in Asia and agricultural markets in Latin America, it said on Thursday.
The Yorkshire-based company also forecast fourth-quarter sales to be seasonally lower than the first three quarters, citing reduced customer spending towards the end of the year.
Croda reported sales of 424.7 million pounds ($569.6 million) for the three-month period ended September 30, up from 406.6 million pounds a year earlier.
($1 = 0.7456 pounds)
(Reporting by Nithyashree R B in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Mrigank Dhaniwala)
