Global chemicals firm Lanxess can look forward to a bright economic future, according to its representatives at the company's recent media day in Leverkusen, Germany.
Axel Heitmann, chairman of the board of management, forecast a period of aggressive growth for the Lanxess growth, following its separation from Bayer in 2004 and the subsequent restructuring and book-balancing.
'Lanxess has proven that it is a sea-worthy craft,' Heitmann said, 'but ships are not built to stay safely in port'. Chief financial officer Matthias Zachert confirmed that the company would be looking to make savvy acquisitions over the next 3 years, and acknowledged that Asia is an area in which Lanxess is likely to make inroads.
Specific details of acquisitions were not revealed.
In the time since its separation from Bayer, Lanxess has had to make a number of redundancies as part of a general streamlining of its' various business units. A new performance culture that awards innovation and gives workers greater responsibilities has been implemented for the firm's 70,000 employees around the world.
The company expects that all of its business units will have an EBITDA margin of greater than 5 percent by 2009, and has headroom for acquisitions over approximately Euro 1.5bn, Zachert said.
Custom pharmaceuticals manufacturer Saltigo has also benefited from a new business model, dubbed 'the Saltigo solution' by board member Martin Wienkenhoever.
Previously the technology platform of Bayer Chemicals, Saltigo md Axel Westerhaus explained how the firm has become a competent mid-sized player, and a peer competitor of larger firms such as Lonza, Albemarle and Degussa. Bayer has gone from the owner of Saltigo to a significant customer for the firm, yet 'from 2001 to 2006, business with current and former Bayer companies decreased by about 12 percent annually, while other business increased by 20 percent annually,' said Westerhaus.
Westerhaus was unable to name any companies who are Saltigo clients or indeed the pharmaceuticals the firm is developing, but identified heart disease drugs, antibiotics, and cancer and HIV drugs as general r&d concerns.
In order to illustrate the exclusivity and innovation of its products, the Saltigo md said that it sells an undisclosed drug to the US at a price of US$300,000 per kilo.
