BAYER MATERIALSCIENCE
1,500 jobs to go in EUR 300m cost-saving plan up to 2009 / No compulsory redundancies
Bayer MaterialScience (BMS, Leverkusen / Germany; www.bayerbms.com) plans to cut 1,500 jobs worldwide up to 2009, as part of a plan to save EUR 300m in costs annually. The aim is to bring the EBITDA margin up to the 18% target outlined by Bayer holding chairman Werner Wenning in March of this year – see Plasteurope.com of 19.03.2007. In the first nine months of 2007, the EBITDA margin at BMS was just under 16%, compared with 18% a year earlier and Wenning said that for the full year the ratio will be lower than last year.
The BMS realignment plans calls for the elimination of 400-500 (out of 7,000) German jobs. Another 155 jobs are to go in polycarbonate production at Antwerp, as announced last month (see Plasteurope.com of 02.10.2007), along with an undetermined number of positions at US headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Wenning said Bayer hopes to achieve all the projected reduction without compulsory redundancies – an agreement with the German workforce prohibits these up to 2009. He said the intent is to achieve process and cost optimisation at all worldwide facilities as well as to “significantly lower” administrative costs while streamlining marketing and distribution activities.
In the first nine months of 2007, BMS posted net sales of EUR 7.6 bn, a 3% rise against the 2006 period. EBITDA before special items declined 9.6% to EUR 1.2 bn. Wenning said the third quarter was the first this year in which the company achieved a year-on-year improvement in underlying earnings. Quarterly EBITDA before special items rose 10.5% to EUR 421m as sales picked up by 1.1% to 2.6 bn. The improvement is attributed almost entirely to success in recouping raw materials price increases.
Materials sales adjusted for currency and portfolio effects rose 5.8% to EUR 767m in the third quarter. Turnover in polycarbonates and thermoplastic polyurethanes increased by an adjusted 5.3% and 12.4% respectively. Wenning said plans to double production capacity for polycarbonate in China are still on ice, as Bayer continues to watch market developments.
e-Service:
Bayer stockholders' newsletter – financial report 2007 (30.9.) as PDF document (796 kB)
The BMS realignment plans calls for the elimination of 400-500 (out of 7,000) German jobs. Another 155 jobs are to go in polycarbonate production at Antwerp, as announced last month (see Plasteurope.com of 02.10.2007), along with an undetermined number of positions at US headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Wenning said Bayer hopes to achieve all the projected reduction without compulsory redundancies – an agreement with the German workforce prohibits these up to 2009. He said the intent is to achieve process and cost optimisation at all worldwide facilities as well as to “significantly lower” administrative costs while streamlining marketing and distribution activities.
In the first nine months of 2007, BMS posted net sales of EUR 7.6 bn, a 3% rise against the 2006 period. EBITDA before special items declined 9.6% to EUR 1.2 bn. Wenning said the third quarter was the first this year in which the company achieved a year-on-year improvement in underlying earnings. Quarterly EBITDA before special items rose 10.5% to EUR 421m as sales picked up by 1.1% to 2.6 bn. The improvement is attributed almost entirely to success in recouping raw materials price increases.
Materials sales adjusted for currency and portfolio effects rose 5.8% to EUR 767m in the third quarter. Turnover in polycarbonates and thermoplastic polyurethanes increased by an adjusted 5.3% and 12.4% respectively. Wenning said plans to double production capacity for polycarbonate in China are still on ice, as Bayer continues to watch market developments.
e-Service:
Bayer stockholders' newsletter – financial report 2007 (30.9.) as PDF document (796 kB)
08.11.2007 Plasteurope.com [209482]
Published on 08.11.2007
German version of this article...