Lanxess: growth continues despite difficult market environment
17/09/2008
Specialty chemicals group Lanxess has said it is is satisfied with business development this year and that it sees itself in a strong position for the coming years.
“I’m very confident for the foreseeable future, despite the increasingly difficult market environment,” commented the company’s chairman Axel Heitmann at a special media day in Cologne. He said the third quarter of 2008 was going well and confirmed earnings forecast and targets for the fiscal year, with earnings before tax of more than EUR 700 million.
At the media day, Dr Heitmann presented the company’s strategy for countering the effects of the global economic turbulence. The three pillars of this strategy are to supplement organic growth by investing in existing business units; make selective acquisitions to broaden and strengthen the group’s portfolio, and research and develop innovative products.
The group is placing special focus on speeding the pace of its expansion in the four leading developing economies: Brazil, Russia, India and China.
Along with the successful growth projects in Brazil, India and China, Lanxess is now preparing to enter the Russian market. In the new year the Group will launch its own company in Russia. The first step will be to open a branch in Moscow to build a platform for further involvement in the region. Lanxess says the Russian chemicals market is growing at a rate in excess of 5% a year. “We plan to derive significant benefit from this expansion,” said Dr Heitmann. “We have identified substantial development potential for Lanxess and will systematically enlarge our market share. We consider annual sales growth of up to 20% a realistic prospect.“
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