Croda has announced a sales rise of 20.1 percent to £315.3 million for the third quarter of the current financial year. With 95 percent of Croda’s sales taking place outside the UK, the weak pound was responsible for an uplift to the tune of 17.6 percent; group sales were up 2.5 percent in constant currency terms.

Personal care sales increased 16.4 percent, thanks to record NPP sales and strong progress in Asia. However, in constant currency terms, personal care sales dropped 1.9 percent, reflecting the short-term impact of reducing inventories as the company transfers Asian customers from local distributors to direct sales.

The company reaffirmed its outlook for 2016 as a whole, with sterling weakness expected to continue to benefit reported results and profit on track to meet expectations for the year.