Anti-Aging Cream Draws Record Waiting List for Boots and Croda

(Bloomberg) -- A new anti-aging product that has led to the longest-ever waiting list at Britain’s leading drugstore chain is set to benefit U.K.-based chemicals firm Croda International Plc, Liberum analysts say.

A total of 99,719 people have so far signed up to buy Boots’s new anti-aging skin cream, known as No. 7 Advanced Retinol 1.5% Complex Night Concentrate, a company representative said by email. Among the product’s key ingredients are Croda’s patented Matrixyl 3000 peptides.

“The news is significant beyond being a growth driver for Croda’s personal care business because it shows the enduring consumer interest in anti-ageing, anti-wrinkle skincare, the scope for these products to sell online and Croda’s position as a leader in the skincare actives business,” Liberum analyst Adam Collins wrote in a note. He recently upgraded his rating on Croda shares to buy.

Peptides is one of Croda’s few business lines accounting for more than 5%, or 50 million pounds ($61.5 million), of group sales, Collins estimates, while its Ebit margin is likely to exceed the divisional average of about 35% “considerably,” he says, possibly being 50%. Croda doesn’t disclose sales or the profitability of its peptides business.

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