Uniqema sale brings a profit bonus to Croda
CHEMICAL company Croda has said its takeover of Uniqema - which employs about 300 on Teesside - will earn the company £10m a year more than expected.
Croda brought Uniqema, which makes ingredients for products ranging from lipsticks to paints, from ICI in September 2006 in a £410m deal.
The firm had expected the buyout of Uniqema to net about £20m a year - but it has now upgraded the figure to £30m.
Pre-tax profits soared to £60.9m in 2007 from £17.2m a year earlier. Sales hit £886.1m, up from £480.1m.
Chairman Martin Flower said: “This has been another exceptional year for Croda.
“Record results have been achieved despite a strong currency headwind and a further rise in raw material costs.
“The integration of Uniqema is well ahead of schedule. The ongoing benefits of this acquisition, combined with our strong underlying business and robust demand for Croda products across the globe, mean that we are confident of delivering further progress, in line with our expectations for 2008.”
The sale of Uniqema marked the end of ICI’s manufacturing operations on Teesside. In its heyday ICI employed 30,000. Today it employs less than 100 staff.
At the time of the sale Uniqema employed 360 people on Teesside, but Croda later announced it wanted to cut 175 jobs in Europe, including up to 60 on Teesside.
