Croda H1 Profit Climbs, Lifts Dividend; Sees FY21 Adj. Profit Significantly Ahead Of View

Specialty chemicals company Croda International Plc. (CRDA.L) reported Tuesday that its first-half profit before tax climbed 41 percent to 204.1 million pounds from last year’s 144.9 million pounds.

Basic earnings per share were 110 pence, up 30.8 percent from 84.1 pence a year ago.

Adjusted profit before tax was 229.5 million pounds, compared to 152.5 million pounds last year. Adjusted earnings per share were 124 pence, compared to prior year’s 88.8 pence.

Sales for the first half grew 38.8 percent to 934 million pounds from 672.9 million pounds a year ago. Underlying sales went up 27 percent on 2020, driven by growth across all sectors.

Sales were well above the pre-pandemic 2019 levels, up over 10 percent in underlying terms.

Further, the company announced interim ordinary dividend growth of 10 percent to 43.5 pence.

Looking ahead, the company now expects 2021 full-year adjusted profit before tax to be significantly ahead of current expectations.

Subject to there being no material change in current market conditions, the company expects a similar phasing of profit between the first and second half periods as seen in previous years.

Croda expects underlying growth across all sectors to continue in the second half year, driven by consumer demand, whilst the customer restocking seen in the first half is expected to moderate.

The company projects continued strong demand for lipid systems and are increasing guidance for sales this year to at least $200 million.

KPN Q2 Profit Surges; Backs FY21 View; Declares Dividend; To Buy Back EUR 200 Mln Shares

Dutch telecom firm Royal KPN NV (KKPNY.PK,KPN) reported Tuesday second-quarter that its net profit surged to 800 million euros from last year’s 135 million euros.

The results mainly reflected net effects of 649 million euros related to the ‘Glaspoort’ transaction.

Excluding items, adjusted net profit would have increased 20 percent from last year.

Operating profit or EBIT was 1.09 billion euros, up from 233 million euros a year ago. Adjusted EBITDA AL edged up 0.6 percent to 589 million euros. Adjusted EBITDA AL margin improved to 45.5 percent from 45.3 percent a year ago.

Adjusted revenues for the quarter edged up 0.2 percent to 1.30 billion euros from last year’s 1.29 billion euros.

Service revenues fell 0.8 percent from last year to 1.20 billion euros, as growth in Wholesale and Consumer Fixed-Mobile service revenues was offset by lower service revenues from Business and Consumer Legacy.

Further, KPN reiterated its fiscal 2021 outlook for adjusted EBITDA AL of around 2.345 billion euros, Capex of 1.20 billion euros, and Free Cash Flow of approximately 765 million euros.

KPN said it intends to pay a regular dividend per share of 13.6 euro cents over 2021. An interim dividend of 4.5 euro cents per share will be paid on August 4.

KPN also said it intends to buy back shares worth 200 million euros in 2021.

Capital & Counties Properties HY Loss Narrows

Capital & Counties Properties Plc. (CAPC.L) reported that its loss for the six months ended 30 June 2021 narrowed to 104.1 million pounds or 12.2 pence per share from 440.7 million pounds or 51.7 pence per share last year.

Loss before tax from continuing operations narrowed to 105.3 million pounds from 441.1 million pounds in the prior year.

Revenue for the period was 34.9 million pounds down from 38.1 million pounds in the prior year.

The Board has proposed an interim dividend of 0.5 pence per share to be paid on 23 September 2021 to shareholders on the register at 27 August 2021. The dividend will comprise 0.25 pence in the form of a PID and 0.25 pence of ordinary dividend.

Shin-Etsu Chemical Q1 Profit Climbs; Sees Higher FY Results – Quick Facts

Shin-Etsu Chemical Co. Ltd. (SHECF.PK,SHECY.PK) reported Tuesday that its first-quarter net income attributable to owners of parent climbed 38.1 percent to 95.73 billion yen from last year’s 69.31 billion yen. Earnings per share were 230.13 yen compared to 166.63 yen last year.

Operating income grew 41.7 percent from last year to 128.82 billion yen.

Net sales were 434.24 billion yen, up 20.8 percent from 359.34 billion yen a year ago.

Looking ahead for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2022, the company expects net income attributable to owners of parent to be 363 billion yen or 873.49 yen per share, operating income of 485 billion yen, and net sales of 1.70 trillion yen.

Last year, the company reported net income attributable to owners of parent of 293.73 billion yen or 706.76 yen per share, operating income of 392.21 billion yen, and net sales of 1.50 trillion yen.

Naomi Osaka is eliminated from the tennis tournament.

By Matthew Futterman

Naomi Osaka, the Japanese superstar who lit the cauldron during the Olympic opening ceremony, was eliminated in the third round of the women’s singles tennis tournament on Tuesday in straight sets.

Reckitt second-quarter sales rise 2.2%, miss estimates

July 27 (Reuters) – Lysol maker Reckitt Benckiser Group missed analysts’ estimates for second-quarter sales on Tuesday, as demand eased for its soaps and cold remedies and the company backed its full-year outlook.

The company reported a 2.2% rise in like-for-like sales for the three months ended June 30, lower than the 2.3% growth analysts had expected, according to a company-supplied consensus.