Croda International (CRDA) Share Price and News Today

FTSE 100 speciality chemicals group Croda International Plc (LON:CRDA) is trading broadly flat today, with the company’s own website showing the share price at 2,765p, down just 1p on the day as of 12:08 GMT. ^[1]

While the share price is steady, news flow across Croda’s agriculture and beauty businesses remains active. Today’s standout development comes from Croda Agriculture’s seed enhancement specialist Incotec, which has published a new opinion piece on how its Promotor Watermelon seed-priming technology helps growers tackle cold-stress germination — a climate-driven challenge for watermelon crops. ^[2]

This sits against the backdrop of a solid third quarter, an unchanged 2025 earnings outlook, and mixed but increasingly constructive broker sentiment on the stock. ^[3]

Croda International share price today

Current price: 2,765p (delayed quote, 12:08 GMT, 26 Nov 2025) ^[4]
Last close: 2,766p on 25 November 2025 ^[5]
Recent range: Around 2,700–2,800p through mid‑November, with mild day‑to‑day volatility. ^[6]

According to recent analysis, Croda’s shares remain roughly a quarter below their 52‑week high. MarketWatch data earlier this month highlighted the stock trading about 24% under a previous high around £36, underscoring how far the shares still sit from peak levels despite recent stabilisation. ^[7]

Croda currently accounts for about 0.17% of the FTSE 100 index, according to FTSE Russell constituent data as of 26 November 2025 — a modest but meaningful weight in the UK blue‑chip benchmark. ^[8]

On the income side, the company recently paid a 48p dividend, with data providers putting the forward yield in the mid‑3% range (around 3.4–3.5%) at current prices. ^[9]

Today’s headline: Incotec’s Promotor Watermelon tackles climate‑driven cold stress

The most date‑specific Croda news on 26 November 2025 comes via Incotec, Croda’s seed enhancement business within Croda Agriculture.

On its news and opinion hub, Incotec has published:

“OPINION: Why priming watermelon seeds helps to overcome cold stress” (26 November 2025). ^[10]

The article builds on the recently launched Promotor Watermelon priming product, first announced on 16 November. Promotor Watermelon is designed to help watermelon seeds germinate reliably at sub‑optimal temperatures (~15°C) — a growing problem as climate change forces growers to plant earlier in the season to escape extreme summer heat. ^[11]

Key points from the product launch and today’s related commentary:

Abiotic (cold) stress: Early‑season sowing in tunnels exposes seeds to cold stress, impairing germination and vigour. ^[12]
Faster, more uniform emergence: Promotor Watermelon significantly improves germination energy and uniformity at 15°C, giving more consistent stands. ^[13]
Seedless and seeded compatibility: Incotec has created specific priming protocols for both 2N (seeded) and 3N (seedless) watermelon seeds, which is important commercially because seedless watermelons dominate many markets. ^[14]
Strong early demand: Incotec’s marketing team reports “strong interest from the market as sales begin to accelerate”, suggesting the technology is already gaining traction with growers. ^[15]

Croda has been leaning harder into seed enhancement and crop‑care technologies as part of its “Land Positive” sustainability ambition — the goal of enabling more land to be “saved” via higher yields than is used to grow Croda’s own bio‑based feedstocks. ^[16] Today’s watermelon priming update is a good example: more resilient germination means better yields without more land or more synthetic inputs.

Q3 2025: Growth continues, outlook unchanged

Croda’s third‑quarter 2025 sales update, published on 16 October, confirmed that the business is still growing despite a more challenging macro backdrop. ^[17]

Highlights from Q3 (three months to 30 September 2025):

Group sales: £424.7m, +4.4% reported, +6.5% at constant currency. ^[18]
By division (constant currency):
- Consumer Care: +8.1%, supported by improving Beauty Actives and double‑digit growth in Fragrances & Flavours (F&F). ^[19]
- Life Sciences: +5.9%, with Crop Protection up ~19%, offsetting softer Pharma. Seed enhancement was flat year‑on‑year in constant currency. ^[20]
- Industrial Specialties: modest growth on a constant‑currency basis, though flat to slightly down reported. ^[21]
Volume recovery: Management reported “low double‑digit” sales volume growth versus Q3 2024, reflecting efforts to better utilise shared production sites. ^[22]
Cost‑saving and transformation plan: Croda expects £25m of cost savings in 2025 and is targeting £100m of annualised savings by the end of 2027 as it optimises capacity, simplifies operations and improves margins. ^[23]
Guidance: Full‑year 2025 adjusted profit before tax (PBT) remains guided at £265–295m at constant currency, with management explicitly stating that the FY25 outlook is unchanged. ^[24]

The company continues to warn that the trading environment is “more challenging” and that Q4 sales are typically seasonally lower as customers manage year‑end working capital. But the combination of mid‑single‑digit sales growth and accelerating cost savings underpins management confidence in the earnings recovery plan. ^[25]

H1 2025: Sales growth in line with expectations

Croda’s half‑year 2025 results (to 30 June), released on 29 July, set the tone for the year. Management described the performance as “good sales growth with FY25 outlook unchanged”, emphasising that the group is on track with its plan to grow earnings and improve returns. ^[26]

A LinkedIn summary by Croda executive Stephen Oxley breaks down H1 growth: ^[27]

Q1 sales growth: ~9%
Q2 sales growth: ~6%, described as a more “normalised” rate
Segment performance:
- Consumer Care: +7%
- Life Sciences: +6%, helped by a strong crop rebound in Europe
- Industrial Specialties: returned to growth, up 2% in Q2 after a good first quarter

Despite political and economic uncertainty, Croda said H1 performance was in line with expectations, and confirmed its full‑year guidance — a stance it reiterated in the Q3 update. ^[28]

At the same time, the company identified “much greater savings and efficiencies” than originally anticipated, prompting it to more than double its cost‑saving ambition via a group‑wide transformation programme aimed at raising operating margins and returns on capital. ^[29]

Innovation pipeline: beauty, home care and agriculture

Although today’s most date‑specific story is in seed technology, Croda has released a steady stream of innovation news in recent weeks across its Consumer Care and Agriculture franchises:

Crodabond™ CSN (sun care): On 3 November 2025, Croda unveiled new data showing that Crodabond CSN delivers SPF‑boosting performance for high‑end sun‑care formulations, strengthening its position in premium beauty and personal care. ^[30]
NeutraFresh™ BD (home & air care): On 30 October 2025, Croda launched NeutraFresh BD, a biodegradable odour‑neutralising ingredient that extends its NeutraFresh range into more sustainable air‑care applications. ^[31]
Regenerative agriculture white paper: On 27 October 2025, Croda Agriculture published a white paper on regenerative agriculture, outlining science‑based approaches to restoring soil health and improving yields while reducing environmental impact. ^[32]
KeraBio™ K31 (hair repair): On 20 October 2025, Croda announced breakthrough data for KeraBio K31, a biotech‑derived, vegan keratin alternative that delivers potent hair repair at low inclusion levels, reducing environmental footprint while maintaining performance. ^[33]
Natrineo™ CR8 award: On 24 October 2025, Croda Beauty’s Natrineo CR8 emulsifier won Silver for Best New Ingredient at the Pure Beauty Awards UK 2025, highlighting ongoing innovation in naturally derived formulation aids. ^[34]

Croda’s centenary year has thus been framed not just by history, but by what management calls “Smart science to improve lives™” — an emphasis on high‑value, low‑volume ingredients that provide critical functionality (SPF boosting, odour control, hair repair, crop resilience) at small inclusion levels. ^[35]

Sustainability and climate targets remain front and centre

Sustainability remains central to Croda’s equity story and is directly relevant to today’s agriculture news.

In September 2025, Croda announced that it had updated its Science Based Targets (SBTs) and secured approval for a Net Zero target by 2050, including a dedicated FLAG (Forest, Land and Agriculture) emissions target and a commitment to remove deforestation risk from key commodities by the end of 2025. ^[36]

Key elements of Croda’s sustainability roadmap include:

A pledge to be “Climate, Land and People Positive” by 2030, aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. ^[37]
A goal for its products to avoid four times the carbon emissions associated with its operations (“4:1 carbon cover”) by 2030; the latest datapack shows Croda at a 0.84:1 ratio based on verified case studies, with methodology under refinement. ^[38]
A 28% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions vs 2018 by the end of 2024, keeping the company on track for its 1.5°C SBT. ^[39]
A push to increase the share of bio‑based raw materials (currently around 56% by volume) and decarbonise manufacturing sites, including initiatives like biomass boilers at facilities such as Hull. ^[40]

Today’s Incotec watermelon priming story fits squarely into this agenda: helping farmers cope with climate volatility and abiotic stress while improving yields is a practical example of Croda’s Land Positive ambition in action. ^[41]

What analysts and investors are saying

The analyst community has been divided but increasingly active on Croda in recent months, with several notable moves ahead of and after the Q3 update:

Barclays upgrade (activist angle): In September, Barclays upgraded Croda from “equal weight” to “overweight”, citing its view that the stock could be an attractive activist target and that self‑help on margins and portfolio optimisation may unlock value. ^[42]
Berenberg target price hike: In October, Berenberg raised its target price from £31 to £33, arguing that beauty‑led momentum more than offsets plateauing health‑care growth, and positioning Croda as a beneficiary of premium beauty and hair‑care trends. ^[43]
Jefferies downgrade: More recently, Jefferies downgraded Croda from “buy” to “hold” and trimmed its target from 3,100p to 3,000p, warning that competitive pressures in consumer chemicals and a focus on driving volumes could mean slower‑than‑expected margin recovery through 2026–27. ^[44]
Trading technicals (US ADR): MarketBeat noted that Croda’s US‑listed ADR (COIHY) recently dropped below its 50‑day moving average, prompting questions about near‑term momentum even as fundamentals improve. ^[45]

On valuation, Directorstalk highlighted earlier this week that Croda’s share price (then around 2,735p) implied roughly 26% upside to an average analyst target of 3,446p, based on a 52‑week range of 2,439–3,565p. ^[46] However, other models disagree: value‑focused site ValueInvesting.io estimates a fair value near 1,362p using a Peter Lynch‑style formula, implying substantial downside from current levels. ^[47]

Longer‑term investors have had a tough ride. A recent analysis on Yahoo Finance pointed out that three‑year shareholders are still significantly underwater despite Croda maintaining a multi‑decade dividend growth record. ^[48]

In short, Croda is a classic “show‑me” recovery stock in the eyes of the market: Q3 figures and today’s innovation news are encouraging, but investors want to see that margin recovery, cash generation and return on capital actually materialise over the next 18–24 months.

Croda as of 26 November 2025: key takeaways

For readers tracking Croda International on 26 November 2025, the picture looks like this:

Share price: Flat on the day around 2,765p, modest yield in the mid‑3% range, and still well below prior highs. ^[49]
Operations: Six consecutive quarters of sales growth, with Q3 constant‑currency sales up 6.5%, led by Beauty Actives, Fragrances & Flavours and Crop Protection. ^[50]
Transformation: Cost‑saving and efficiency plans have been scaled up to £100m annualised savings by 2027, anchoring a medium‑term margin recovery story. ^[51]
Innovation: A healthy pipeline spanning sun care, hair repair, odour control and seed enhancement, including today’s spotlight on Promotor Watermelon for cold‑stress germination. ^[52]
Sustainability: Updated, SBTi‑aligned net‑zero and FLAG targets reinforce Croda’s positioning as a sustainability‑led speciality ingredients supplier. ^[53]
Market view: Brokers are split — some see activist‑driven upside and beauty‑led growth, others are cautious on margins and competitive dynamics in consumer chemicals. ^[54]

As always, this article is for information only and does not constitute investment advice. Anyone considering investing in Croda International Plc should do their own research, review the company’s official reports and, where appropriate, seek independent financial advice.