Sales of French plastics converter Sommer Allibert SA (F-92478 Nanterre) rose 20% in 1995 to FF 12.7bn, thanks in particular to brisk business with the automobile industry and consolidation of new subsidiaries. By contrast, consolidated net income declined 44% to FF 177.7m. The French group attributes the erosion in earnings to a slowdown in market growth in H2 1995 and higher polymer costs in H1, as well as to start-up losses of new plants at Palmela, Portugal (with Ford and Volkswagen), and in the US at Greenville, South Carolina (with BMW), and Kansas City, Missouri (with General Motors).

The group's German affiliate, Sommer Allibert Industrie AG (Friesstr. 26, D-60388 Frankfurt) lifted its 1995 turnover 17% to DM 1.24bn. Group chairman Marc Assa projects an upturn in sales to DM 1.4bn for the German business in 1996. Most of the growth is expected to come from the takeover of Mercedes Benz' plastics processing business at Wörth, which has already begun trading under the name Sommer Allibert Kunststofftechnik Wörth GmbH (Benzstr, D-76744 Wörth). Sommer Allibert's group sales in Germany will rise to a projected DM 1.8bn in 1997 with the planned consolidation of Lignotock GmbH.