Croda International's shares traded within 1% of their year high on 30 October, even though its first-half Margin of 17.7% remains well short of the above-20% goal it has set for 2028. Its half-year results of 28 July are the latest trading figures available, with only director and holdings notices listed since.

What happened

There is no new trading statement to report. 's list of company announcements, whose newest item is a director shareholding notice dated 13 October, shows no third-quarter update for 2026. The group published such an update on 16 October last year.

Croda, ticker LSE:CRDA, is a constituent of the FTSE All-Share index and sits in the basic materials sector as a speciality chemicals business. According to AI-generated summaries on, which warn of possible inaccuracies, first-half sales rose 2.9% to £880.5m, with organic growth of 4.6%, driven mainly by Consumer Care.

Adjusted operating profit rose 6.1% to £155.8m and free Cash Flow rose 36.8% to £38.3m. Full-year guidance was held at 3% to 6% Organic Sales growth with a further increase in margin. (LSE:CRDA)

The route to 2028

The longer-term framework is the same 3% to 6% organic growth range with an adjusted Operating Margin above 20% by 2028, the summary of the February results said. Adjusted operating profit for 2025 was £295.3m on sales of £1,699.4m, a margin of 17.4%.

The first half therefore added about 0.3 percentage points compared with last year's full-year margin, although half-year and full-year figures are not strictly comparable. On that basis, the remaining gap is more than two points with two years to run after this one.

The first-quarter statement of 22 April, read in full, showed how uneven the mix was. Consumer Care sales grew 4% at constant currency, with Beauty Actives up 12%. Life Sciences fell 3%, with Crop Protection down 8%, and Industrial Specialties fell 2%. North America was down 7%. Group sales of £431m were up 1% at constant currency but down 2% as reported.

Why it matters for investors

Our analysis is that the margin path depends on Life Sciences recovering as well as on Consumer Care continuing to grow, although the half-year summary gives no divisional figures to test this. The company said in April that its transformation programme was on track and that it was raising prices to recover input cost inflation.

The headline price-to-earnings multiple of 64 on AJ Bell should be read with care. The 2025 profit before tax of £91.0m came after £185.2m of adjustments, including impairments, which depress statutory earnings.

How (LSE:CRDA) the shares have performed

AJ Bell showed a last trade of 3,644p on 30 October, up 0.86% on the previous close of 3,613p, with prices delayed by at least 15 minutes. The year range was 2,488p to 3,674p, leaving the shares about 46% above the low.

Market value was £5.08bn and the Yield 3.05%. The latest Dividend was 48.00p, which went ex-dividend on 27 August and was paid on 6 October.

StockAnalysis data from 23 October showed 14 analysts with a consensus Buy rating and a 3,707.86p average target, under 2% above the 30 October trade. That is a third-party view.

What to watch next

No date for a next update was confirmed in the sources retrieved. Any sales update would be the first test of the full-year range and of whether Life Sciences has improved.

The margin outcome for the year, against 17.4% in 2025, then becomes the main yardstick. Full-year results were published on 24 February this year.