NEW FEATURE: Croda International PLC
Turning Structural Transition into Strategic Ascent: Zenakine™ as a Transformational Catalyst
By Elric Langton & Alex Langton | 21 April 2025
Elric Langton, Mike Cain, and Alex Langton have a financial interest in SkinBioTherapeutics.
Croda International is entering a new phase of focused, innovation-driven growth after a challenging period of transition. With its sharpened strategic emphasis on high-value Consumer Care and Life Sciences, robust cost discipline, and exposure to long-term sustainability and health megatrends, Croda appears to offer investors a compelling recovery and growth story for 2025 and beyond.
Recovery Potential and Valuation Opportunity
After a period of industry-wide destocking and the wind-down of its COVID-related windfall, Croda is forecasting a return to growth in both core divisions in 2025, with underlying profit expected to rise 2.5% at the mid-point of guidance, which is where we think Zenakine™ will boost sales and margins.
Croda’s recent commercialisation of Zenakine™, a neurocosmetic active derived from SkinBioTherapeutics’ SkinBiotix platform, Over five years in the making, marks an inflection point in the company’s innovation-led growth strategy. The ingredient’s compelling clinical results—enhancements in subjective happiness (+13.5%), sleep quality (+11.3%), and a visible skin-lifting effect (+13.3%)—not only underpin a new product category but have earned widespread industry acclaim, including a rare standing ovation at in-cosmetics Global 2025.
Croda's immediate deployment of Zenakine™ across five commercial foundation formulations and over 600 product formulations demonstrates an intent to capture early mover advantage in a nascent yet high-margin sector that bridges skincare and neurological wellness. As such, Zenakine™ stands not merely as a novel ingredient but as a potential anchor for sustained growth in the high-value Consumer Care division.
Strategic Opportunity Amid Depressed Valuation