LANXESS
Decision on styrenics this year / Asian partnership sought / Polymer margins improve in 2006
Management of Lanxess (Leverkusen / Germany; www.lanxess.com) has given itself until the end of 2007 to decide on the future of its Lustran Polymers styrenics business, CEO Axel Heitmann said at the annual results presentation in Düsseldorf this week. He added that the "impressive turnaround" of the former loss-making activities "puts us into a better position as regards additional measures planned." These include finding a "strategic partner" for the business in Asia.
Lanxess is open for "all alternatives, including an international joint venture and an outright sale of Lustran," managing board member Ulrich Koemm told Plasteurope.com separately. He said the German company, with its small, specialised ABS and SAN portfolio, faces an uphill struggle in competition with large-volume players. While Lanxess has production capacities in Thailand and India, it is not satisfied with its Asian market share. The SAN production activities in Europe were sold to BASF last year.
The decision to concentrate certain businesses in Asia is in line with management´s "Lanxess Goes Asia" strategy, which also foresees expansion of compounding capacities for high-end semi-crystalline engineering polymers, including the "Durethan" PA specialities, at Wuxi / China and the establishment of a plastics development centre at the same site.
Engineering Plastics, one of the four Lanxess business groups, made considerable progress in improving its margins in 2006, said Heitmann. Following the divestment of the "Dorlastan" manmade fibres subsidiary, EBITDA pre-exceptionals in plastics rose by more than 56% to EUR 103m, and the EBITDA margin climbed to 6% from 3.8%. This compares with a 9.7% margin for Lanxess as a whole.
Overall figures for Lanxess in 2006 show a 16% rise in EBITDA pre-exceptionals to EUR 675m. Net income improved to nearly EUR 200m following a net loss of EUR 63m in 2005 that reflected restructuring expenditure. Net debt was reduced by a further 25% to EUR 511m, after a 40% reduction in 2005 against 2004, when the business was spun off from Bayer. Sale in 2006 declined nearly 3% against 2005 to EUR 6.94 bn, which Heitmann said was due to the company´s "price before volume" strategy.
Lanxess is aiming to widen its overall business by the end of 2008, mainly through acquisitions. These must create new value, utilise the company´s experience and not compromise its strategic and financial position. In May 2007, Werner Breuers will join the managing board. Experienced in plastics and petrochemical feedstocks, the former president of Basell Polyolefins will help Lanxess coordinate its various businesses, said Heitmann.
e-Service:
Lanxess annual report 2006 as PDF document (2,975 KB)
Lanxess complete financial information 2006 as PDF document (728 KB)
Lanxess management report 2006 as PDF document (469 KB)
Lanxess is open for "all alternatives, including an international joint venture and an outright sale of Lustran," managing board member Ulrich Koemm told Plasteurope.com separately. He said the German company, with its small, specialised ABS and SAN portfolio, faces an uphill struggle in competition with large-volume players. While Lanxess has production capacities in Thailand and India, it is not satisfied with its Asian market share. The SAN production activities in Europe were sold to BASF last year.
The decision to concentrate certain businesses in Asia is in line with management´s "Lanxess Goes Asia" strategy, which also foresees expansion of compounding capacities for high-end semi-crystalline engineering polymers, including the "Durethan" PA specialities, at Wuxi / China and the establishment of a plastics development centre at the same site.
Engineering Plastics, one of the four Lanxess business groups, made considerable progress in improving its margins in 2006, said Heitmann. Following the divestment of the "Dorlastan" manmade fibres subsidiary, EBITDA pre-exceptionals in plastics rose by more than 56% to EUR 103m, and the EBITDA margin climbed to 6% from 3.8%. This compares with a 9.7% margin for Lanxess as a whole.
Overall figures for Lanxess in 2006 show a 16% rise in EBITDA pre-exceptionals to EUR 675m. Net income improved to nearly EUR 200m following a net loss of EUR 63m in 2005 that reflected restructuring expenditure. Net debt was reduced by a further 25% to EUR 511m, after a 40% reduction in 2005 against 2004, when the business was spun off from Bayer. Sale in 2006 declined nearly 3% against 2005 to EUR 6.94 bn, which Heitmann said was due to the company´s "price before volume" strategy.
Lanxess is aiming to widen its overall business by the end of 2008, mainly through acquisitions. These must create new value, utilise the company´s experience and not compromise its strategic and financial position. In May 2007, Werner Breuers will join the managing board. Experienced in plastics and petrochemical feedstocks, the former president of Basell Polyolefins will help Lanxess coordinate its various businesses, said Heitmann.
e-Service:
Lanxess annual report 2006 as PDF document (2,975 KB)
Lanxess complete financial information 2006 as PDF document (728 KB)
Lanxess management report 2006 as PDF document (469 KB)
22.03.2007 Plasteurope.com [207744]
Published on 22.03.2007
German version of this article...