2 FTSE 100 basic materials stocks to buy: Polymetal and Croda International

Two FTSE 100 stocks, Polymetal International Plc (LON: POLY) and Croda International Plc (LON: CRDA) is making news again following key announcements. The shares of Polymetal International are garnering the attention of investors on the back of its Q2 revenue growth driven by surging metal prices. Croda shares have also been capturing investor attention.

Polymetal International Plc (LON: POLY)

FTSE 100 listed Polymetal International is a metals mining company with a portfolio comprising silver, copper and gold. On 6 August, Polymetal received an ESG score of AA on a scale of AAA-CCC, thus positioning the company among the highest ESG rated companies in the precious metals sector.

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Polymetal’s revenue for Q2 2021 2021 (ended 30 June 2021) increased by 6% year-on-year to reach US$681 million, on account of surging metal prices. While H1 2021, revenues of the company rose by 12% year-on-year to US$1,274 million. Net debt rose by US$0.5 billion to US$1.83 billion in Q2 2021, on account of final dividend payouts worth US$0.4 billion. The company’s gold equivalent production for Q2 2021 declined by 6% year-on-year to 339 Koz, on account of due to the grade declines at Albazino in Russia and Kyzyl in Kazakhstan.

The shares of Polymetal International traded at GBX 1,512.50 at 8:13 AM on 17 August 2021, and the market capitalisation stood at £7,148.63 million.

Croda International Plc (LON: CRDA)

Croda International is a manufacturer of speciality chemicals and ingredients for various industries. For the H1 ended 30 June 2021, Croda’s sales rose by 38.8% year-on-year to reach £934 million compared to £672.9 million in H1 2020. Its pre-tax profit reached £204.1 million in H1 2021, up by 40.9% from £144.9 million in H1 2020.

Croda International has announced to increase the ordinary dividend per share 43.5 pence in H1 2021, up by 10% from 39.5 pence per share fixed in H1 2020.

The shares of Croda International traded at GBX 9,166.00, up by 0.81% at 8:15 AM on 18 August 2021, and the market capitalisation stood at £12,685.04 million. Over the last one year, the shares gave a return of 53.30% to the shareholders.