London, Nov 4 - Britain's Croda, which makes ingredients for cosmetics and personal care products, reported third-quarter sales up 73.2 percent on Tuesday, with demand robust in all its core markets.
The company, whose ingredients are used by companies such as Estee Lauder and Procter & Gamble, reported third-quarter pretax profits up 73.2 percent at 24.6 million pounds ($40 million).
It said the increase in pretax profits was due to the sales increase, synergies realised from the acquisition of Uniqema, favourable currency translation and lower interest charges.
Sales for the period increased 25.2 percent to 246.7 million pounds.
Croda bought oleochemicals business Uniqema from ICI in 2006 for 410 million pounds.
The company said it was confident of making further progress both in the fourth quarter and in 2009.
The company said significant raw material inflation continued throughout the period, which was fully recovered through price increases.
In February Croda said it would continue to pass higher raw material costs onto its customers, and that it had already lifted selling prices this year.